Meet the Lady
by smith at the city
Summary: Due to unsanitary and unhygienic living conditions of BLU HQ, the Administrator has given them a maid. Enter Gem, a tenacious Brit assigned to cook and clean. There's a catch, there's more to her than meets the eye.
1. Chapter 1

Everyone was twitchy, Spy could see it. Who wouldn't since the person they were seeing could be the embodiment of Lucifer himself. Spy (Real name unknown) glanced at his team and then rubbed his eyes. The Scout, aptly named as Ethan Flash, tried to pretend he was alright by pretending he was raring to meet Helen, the Administrator. It would have been well hidden, had he not gone to the toilet for the fifth time. Even his most trusted comrade, the Sniper, Daniel Sharpe, was trying not to let suspense kill him by entering a conversation with the Engineer, Archimedes "Archie" Steele, on how they could modify his rifle without letting the Administrator finding out. Jacob Blitzkrieg, the Medic, was looking at his wallet again, the sentimental fool. Burns the Pyro was having a incoherent conversation with someone on the phone.

"Spy! What are we called for?" Mikhail Vladimirov, the Heavy Weapons Guy, asked him.

"'ow am I supposed to know, Mon ami?" Spy took another puff of smoke and exhaled it with his nostrils.

Mikhail shifted uncomfortably. "We…"

Spy lifted his eyebrows as his eyes closed. "Apparently, the cat is out of ze bag. Yes, I had an affair with ze chain-smoking seductress."

Mikhail sighed in relief, Spy wasn't –

Spy stabbed him in the face, the blood got on to his suit but for the moment he didn't care.

" 'O said I had an affair with ze Administrator?"

"Was it you, Gage?" Spy asked, his blade pointing at the wasted Demoman.

Without waiting for an answer, he stabbed him in the chest. Then Ethan, then Burns, and then the Soldier, Sargeant Cran and lastly, Archie. Only Daniel and Jacob were left standing but still, it didn't stop him from glancing at them suspiciously.

"Oy, Spy, I was still talking to Archie," Daniel said with a frown. He shrugged since they would just respawn soon.

"Really, Spy. Must you kill them now? The Administrator vould be furious at them if –" Then Jacob glanced at him with an evil smile. "Oh I see."

"BLU, the Administrator would like to see you now," Miss Pauling's voice came from the speakers.

"Year 2011 and no one except 'Ale seems to see 'er as approachable," Spy said," I pity our predecessors."

"Got that darn right," Daniel replied.

No one except Spy could open the door, so as his hands inched towards it. He heard a shout.

"Don't go without us!" Mikhail screamed, in desperation he ran towards them.

"Dammit, hurry Spy! Or that tub o' lard is going to pancake us to the wall!"

Spy opened the door quickly and almost severed half of Jacob to the door when he closed it as fast as he could. He closed it in time. There was a thump and a dent with the shape of a fat man formed. The trio wiped away the imaginary sweat that formed on their foreheads and sighed in relief.

"Well, I suppose there would be a pay cut for the others you locked out of this office, Spy," the Administrator said dryly. Two chairs faced Helen who was behind her desk. "Anyway time is money and I do not want expense. So please, Gem, meet the residents of the place you are assigned to."

One chair turned to face them, revealing a petite brunette with the brown eyes. She stood up and approached them in a warm yet distant manner. She extended her hand to shake with theirs with an enigmatic smile. "Please to meet you, people call me Gem. From my accent, you can tell I'm a Briton."

Spy, instead of giving her a handshake, took her hand and kissed it. "My, gemme, eh? How –" He caught himself before he revealed anything from his personal life. Still, he added," Have we met before?"

Gem took an unnoticeable intake of breath. He wasn't one of them, was he?

"No, I don't think so, Monsieur. Unless you have not worn your mask?"

"I suppose so."

"Well, the names Daniel Sharpe," the Sniper said gruffly. There was something he found disturbing about Gem but he didn't know what. He didn't shake hands with her.

Medic did however. "Gem, eh? I have a daughter, her name is Rachel. She's about your age. Would you like to –"

"Let's cut the small talk, shall we?" the Administrator cut in briskly.

Spy nodded, being the de facto leader and spokesman when it came to the Administrator. "Alright."

"Teufort people want you out after being so messy. They claim it's like having a nuclear bomb in their homes and while I see it as an exaggeration, I still want something done before something like the press find out about it then they'll find out about us. It will be an expensive cycle as I will have to arrange those press to be killed, only to have other presses knowing then I have to send more assassins to clean it up. So Gem is going to be your maid, however if she is injured, molested, or killed, I will not only just fire you." She stopped at the last sentence, letting the gem of warning shine.

"Of course, Administrator. I'll treat her as if she's my own daughter," Spy said.

Daniel chocked.

Administrator's eyes narrowed. "Let's hope so, Spy. Tell the latecomers that they're lucky I'm in a good mood. Now Gem and I will be having some final words before I send her off with you."

Spy bowed and ushered the others and himself out.

* * *

><p>"Apparently, the Administrator is in a good mood so she won't be punishing you all," Spy said to the others who were absent from the meeting.<p>

"What do you mean? You killed us first!" Scout demanded.

"Yeah!" agreed Sgt. Cran.

"And who was it that spread my little secret?" Spy countered as he calmly put another cigar in his mouth. He lit it and inhaled deeply.

There were a few mumbles and Spy just blew out a puff of smoke and said," Thought so."

"Gem, now you're on your own here. Are you alright with that?" the Administrator asked.

"I'm going to be fine, A-Admin. You've already done so much for me." Still there was something Gem wanted to know before she left her. "You're not sorry he died?"

"Why do you think I didn't attend the funeral. We are related by blood, but blood alone does not a family make, don't you agree?"

Gem sighed. "Yes, Admin. I know."

"Goodbye, Gem, and take care of yourself."

"Goodbye, A-Admin."

Gem left her and went to meet her the mercs. The Spy saw her and approached her.

"Gem, eh? Ma gemme, what manners I have! Please call me Spy," the Spy said, he took her outstretched hand – as she was going to shake his hand – and kissed it.

Gem lifted her eyebrows in unexpectedness. That wasn't what men did everyday, unless they were playboys. Then again, he was the perfect embodiment of James Bond, a French James Bond, except that he was too old for her and he was not at all her type.

"Gem, eh? That's a pretty name. Have you seen me without my shirt? I look awesome," Ethan said.

"I didn't get your name, Mr?"

"Oh don't call me Mister, that's my dad. The name's Ethan." He would have said more hadn't Gem felt like she was being picked up like a kitten. And she was, by a tall hulking healthy Eastern European who examined her like a peddler's goods.

"You come clean? Yes?" Mikhail asked, he looked at her as if she were a phony.

"Da," Gem said, her face screamed "Got a problem with that?"

"Too scrawny, cannot clean Sasha, cannot clean Natascha as too heavy for you."

He dropped her without caring if she landed properly, and she didn't. She landed on the ground on her bottom with a thump.

"Well, let me help you there, sugar." A gloved hand was offered and she took it. The oil loosened her grip and she fell on the floor again.

"Poor belle," Spy said as he and Daniel were getting the van ready," Still her first day and she's already overwhelmed by our motley crew."

"Ya ya, sucks to be her," Daniel said indifferently.

"There's Sgt. Cran, 'e's … Oh dear, the petite gemme may be scarred for life."

"She's going to be scarred more when she's seen our living quarters. Everywhere has blood and dirt on it. Demoman and Ethan always get drunk to do whatever shit they do and they always end up damaging the walls if not the furniture. Good God, they're refuse to take a bath after a job and they smear whatever they were in in it, piss, blood, milk gone bad. I shudder when I think of her reaction. Except that, she's wearing a disguise."

"Yes, I fear it would be like the Director Incident half a century ago with the REDs."

"She doesn't have a camera."

"I've seen very small cameras in my heyday, Daniel."

The two men cautiously looked at the "poor" Gem, and they noticed a dangerous gleam in her eyes.

She fingered the locket containing a picture of her "family." She had to find that person. She didn't care how and she wanted answers.


	2. Chapter 2

It was three o'clock but Gem was still staring at the ceiling fan. She had developed insomnia ever since she saw her Father killed before her, knowing there are people looking for her wanting to kill her. Becoming a housemaid for one the teams in Badlands was the best cover of all, no one would think of looking for her here, nor would they think she had even become a housemaid. Knowing she could do more productive things other than forcing herself to go to sleep, she got up and dressed into shabby housecleaning clothes. She opened the door and almost screamed when she saw Ethan.

"Mr. Flash," she said coolly as her heartbeat began to slow down.

"Oh come on, Gem, we're living together, might as well be on first name basis."

"Alright then. Do you need something, Ethan?"

Ethan just put folded his arms behind his head and tried to look non-chalant. "I was just wondering if you were lonely..."

"No, I am not sleeping with you," Gem replied amused," Discipline your baser urges, Ethan, and you'll be a better soldier."

"What did you say, lady? I am the Soldier here! This man is not the Soldier, he is the Scout!" Sgt. Cran shouted.

"Dude, I am not gonna be like this messed-up fruitcake who loots dead bodies!"

"They are my war trophies, son, if you don't get your facts right, I will!"

Gem left the duo bickering and made mental notes on which areas must be prioritized for cleaning. Hallways, staircases, bathrooms, living rooms, even the kitchen had been soiled and dirtied, it was a hard task to assign which room would Priority One. She decided to clean the kitchen because she would soon have to cook breakfast.

The clock struck four, the clock struck five, then when the clock struck six, Gem was covered in muck that she didn't want to know and smelled like it also. She was about to leave the kitchen when Sgt. Cran was in the kitchen.

"Are you going somewhere, maggot?"

"Yes, I have to take a bath and my name is Gem."

"Silence, you will be addressed as maggot until you prove to be worthy of being called your name! Do you read me, maggot?"

Gem just stared at him then said," Alright then, now if you excuse me, I need to take a bath before I prepare breakfast."

She opened the door a crack, but Sgt. Cran slammed it shut. "Do you think I'm stupid, maggot? I know you can escape and do something else."

I think you're crazy, thought Gem with a glare. "Honestly, Sgt, I need to clean up before I prepare breakfast."

"Then you'll have to take a bath in my prescence."

Gem took a deep breath and then held Sgt. Cran's shoulders. "You're right, Sgt. Cran..."

And then she kneed the Soldier's manhood. Hard. Sgt. Crann doubled over with a grunt of pain.

"But no one separates me and my bath." She gave him a cold curtsy and left.

"She sure got you, Sarge," Ethan said as he peeked into the kitchen, he whistled when he saw the state of the kitchen. "Hey, I can see my reflection in these tiles."

"Maggot, I order you to help me up right now!"

"No can do, Sarge, I just planted one of Archie's sweet spy cameras planted in Gem's bathroom and now I am going to test it out."

With his trademark lightning speed, Scout ran to his room to spy on Gem.

"Hey, Ethan! Have you seen my spy camera?" Archi called out.

"Naw, haven't seen it. What would I do with it if I did? Spy on my mom and the Red Spy doin' it?"

Archie shrugged and went back to rummaging his room for the missing camera. It had been a prototype of his, and he still needed to work on it. Never mind, he thought as he gave up looking for it, he still had several others. Suddenly, he saw Mikhail and Sgt. Cran going to the same direction of Ethan. He rubbed his helmet against his scalp and began to search for his PDA. He stopped searching for his PDA when he realized not one, but two spy cameras were stolen.

"Oi, Spy, what say you interrupting me from my target practicing?" Daniel said crankily.

"Iz quite important, my file is missing."

BLU Spy shot the sniper a look.

"What? I ain't stealing any damn file! What file is it about anyway?"

"It's quite puzzling actually..." Spy stopped in midsentence and gave himself a facepalm. "Of course."

"What?"

"I need to see Gem."

No matter how fast Ethan was, the scout still couldn't be on time to see Gem enter the shower. The shower curtain prevented everything but an outline to appear. From what he could see, she was washing her hair, and he went hard when he saw her soaping herself.

"Move it!" Sgt. Cran said as he pushed Ethan to move over.

"Give room," Mikhail said jostling the two.

"Hey! Get your own damn computer," Ethan said.

They stopped arguing when another shadow appeared in the curtain and began to help her. They found the outline of the second shadow distressingly familiar. The balaclava said it all.

Ethan gave a gasp when the curtain opened revealing the two shadows to be ... Ethan's mother and the RED Spy.

"Argh!" Ethan screamed closing his eyes from the horror.

Sgt. Cran and Mikhail were still watching it, transfixed in what could be said as Grade A porn.

"Gentlemen," the BLU Spy said," real gentlemen do not watch another one's mother (bleep), especially when that mother's son is watching."

Archie poked his head in. "Ethan! Why I oughta -!"

The screen fuzzed and Gem's face appeared in the screen were the Ethan's mother and the RED Spy had been.

Gem's smile was smug and cat-like. "Just a warning in case you do that again."

Then the screen blacked out.

"Not cool buddy," Archie said sternly he went to the Ethan's laptop and ripped away a neatly hidden spy camera.

BLU Spy just gave himself a facepalm when he felt someone tapping his back. He turned and it was Gem smiling sheepishly as she held a tape with her free hand. "Sorry Spy, I just wanted to warn Ethan about the next time he does it again."

The Spy smiled at that as he took back the tape. "Well, it does teach ze poor boy to respect women."

Gem shrugged and went to Archie who was busy cuffing Ethan.

"Archie, I apologize for borrowing your spy camera without asking permission, it's the one you ripped from Ethan's laptop, here is the one Ethan planted in my bathroom." She handed him the other camera.

"That's alright, miss, you had a reason. It's. Because. This. Idiot. Here. Is. A. Pervert." Archie punctuated every word by shaking Ethan.

All's well, ends well, Spy thought as he went back to his room to find a safer place to hide the file. Satisfied, he joined Daniel in the shooting range of their HQ because he felt a little rusty with his accuracy.

"So, Gem stole your file, eh? Or did you know Gem might need it and pretend to have it lost?" Daniel said without glancing at the Spy as he reloaded his rifle.

"You were always my favourite teammate, Daniel," the Spy said with his lips curved in a smug smile.

Nothing else was said but the two men began their target practicing with amiable smiles.

Time flew fast and the two men were so concentrated with practice that it took them five minutes to smell something good. They both looked behind them and they were surprised to see Gem behind them with two trays.

"Thought you two men would still be practicing so I decided to do you two a favour so you won't rush when you head to the Dust Bowl." Conveniently, there were two wooden crates that Gem could put the dishes on. "I may not be the Iron Chef but I'm a pretty good cook, thanks to my father."

The Spy and Daniel stood up to thank her but Gem cut them off. She approached them and gave them each a peck on the cheek. "Thanks for helping me with Ethan."

And she left them.

Daniel was red as a beetroot while the Spy refused to look at Daniel.

"You told Gem where to find ze file, didn't you?" the Spy asked.

Daniel folded his arms behind his head and whistled. "You know what, mate? I'm hungry, let's eat what Gem made for us."


	3. Chapter 3

Gem thought it was impossible, a herculean task that would need divine intervention to be done, but she still did it. She didn't care if it would take forever, as long as it would be done. She didn't run away from it, though she did scream at some of the horrendous pasts, and for that, she was rewarded. The task that had been impossible was now possible and what was best was that she was the one who proved it against herself, it took an earth-shattering but she was finished. Gem smiled as she looked at BLU HQ and marvelled at sparkly cleanliness that had took her fourteen hours to clean.

She looked at her watch to check when BLU team would finish their somewhat insane battle with RED team. Hmm, they should be home –

"Honey! We're home!"

– Anytime now.

Gem glanced at everyone, they were covered in any possible kind of filth imaginable.

"You're all –"

"Dirty?" Gage suggested.

"Smelly?" asked Mikhail.

"Oil-slicked?" Archie inquired as he tapped his oil covered hard hat.

"Pissed on?" Sgt. Cran helped.

"Bloody?" Daniel filled.

"Mmph Phmm?" Burns mumbled.

"All of the above," Gem said with a sigh as she raised one eyebrow, then her gaze fell on the part they were standing and she almost wept, the floor she had laboriously cleaned was back to being dirty but Gem kept her face stiff.

Spy followed in and his eyes widened in surprise when he saw the state of the living room, it had been clean as a whistle before they came in. The tiles that had been caked with mud were now snowy-white. He saw Gem's face, he could see the sheen of unshed tears as she looked at the inconsiderate men already lounging in the sofa, dirtying everything they got their hands on. Spy felt an urge to pat her on the back to say a job well done and to console her but killed it. She was a cleaner, he was a merc, there were personal boundaries they couldn't cross, and the fact that he is old enough to be her father's younger brother.

The watery eyes were blinked away into something a fierce glint of annoyance and exasperation.

Ethan and Mikhail were playing Fast and Furious in the PS3 with Jacob cheering on Mikhail and Burns for Ethan, though Gem couldn't understand a thing he was saying. Gage and Archie were boasting about their best kills. Sgt. Cran had retreated to his room leaving a trail of blood that left tell tale signs to where his room was.

" Men," Gem said blocking the screen. This would have been more effective if the players were shorter than her and if the television hadn't been to high up. She was slightly taller than Archie but was the still shorter than the rest.

"Turn there," Jacob said as Mikhail swerved his car to the left.

"Hey, let the gal talk," Archie said being the only one to notice her.

Unfortunately, no one was also listening to Archie.

"TV off," Gem said. Once as the words escaped her lips, the television shut down.

"What the fuck did you do?" Ethan demanded jumping up. He had been so revved by the game that having it shut down when he was going to win made him angry. Angry enough to have him grab Gem by the collar.

"It's called I want your attention, Ethan, so I turned off the telly." Gem was calm as she said it, at least that was most of the men were thinking, the Spy said, he knew temper but what he saw was a very controlled temper in Gem that appeared calm but a raging blaze that only he could see was flashing in her eyes. Gem put her hand on Ethan's hand as if to disengage it from her collar, then crushed it by holding tight.

Ethan gave a scream and let go of her. "There will be some rules here, gentlemen."

She pointed at her collar that had some filth from Ethan's hand on it. "I will not tolerate this filth in this HQ."

She pointed at the sofa. "On this sofa."

At the tiles. "On the tiles."

Then waved her arm around the room. "Or even in this room."

"Now wait a minute, lass –" Gage was going to argue but Gem cut him off.

"But I understand you all arrive here, dirty, tired, exhausted, all of you want to relax. I understand that all, so let's all compromise."

"Alright, then what's your terms, lass?" Gage asked now the spokesman for the BLU team but his arms were folded, a sure sign that this would be a hell of a battle for one lone woman to a pack of bestial mercenaries.

The Spy chuckled, he was very interested to see how Gem would handle herself.

"What'd I miss?" Daniel asked, he had taken a bath and dressed into more comfortable clothes.

"Gem's starting the negotiations with some of the more less suave of men," Spy replied with a shrug. He took one assessing glance at Daniel and said," You took a bath."

"What's wrong with that, mate? I always take a bath after a mission."

"But you don't take a bath right after, zis is the first time you took a bath right after."

"Don't talk like that, makes me wonder if you're a poof."

"I assure you, mon ami, I am not a poof, I am a lover of the fairer sex."

"Then let's not bring this up. Ever." He went to the fridge and took out a can of beer and sat on the kitchen table. He didn't pay any attention to her but he was wondering why Spy was so interested in her. Then he heard voice full of frustration. She was ablaze, shooting out compromises like bullets from a machine gun.

Apparently and obviously everyone in the group was resisting though Archie was more agreeable. That was when she changed to tactics. She first talked to Gage as he was the spokesman for the party and she switched to his native tongue, Gaelic. She handled every man after him the same, switching to the person's language not just persuasively, she spoke each word fluently. That took them by surprise.

She smiled good naturedly now that they could meet each other's terms. "Great then, thanks for putting up with me."

"Ze little mademoiselle is quite steely, eh, mon ami?"

Daniel shrugged then went to practice his aim, again.

"You don't usually shoot when dinner is starting."

"Bah, shut up, you wanker." Daniel left muttering incoherently.

"Oh, I didn't know you're in here, Spy," Gem said, mildly surprised.

"I was watching you conduct your discussions with them, you are a – what was that – a multi-linguist, is it?"

Gem smiled mysteriously. "Let's just say my father was a very, very, special man."

"Is he also ze reason for ze make up you wear to hide your pretty face with makeup and contact lens?"

Gem stood up and faced Spy. "Let's say it's the same reason why you wear mask."

"Touché, ma petite."

"En garde, monsieur." Gem took a bow and once again left to take a second bath to wash away the muck that clung to her skin.


	4. Chapter 4

Dinner was prepared and then served, for some reason it wasn't like breakfast where it ended with a food fight, it seemed everyone was still too distracted by the fact that Gem was a talented multi-linguist. Unfortunately, Gem, just like breakfast, ate in her room and did not see it. It wasn't that she wanted to eat alone, there were only nine chairs and she wasn't keen on eating standing up with Ethan to dry hump her, nor had anyone offered a chair for her. It either meant she still hadn't earned her right to sit with them or they preferred to distance themselves from her because she was a stereotyped dainty lady of Britain while they were bloodthirsty mercs that were ordered to kill anyone as soon as the order was issued.

She finished eating dinner and left it on her desk to wait for the others to finish up. She thought of relaxing for surviving such a trying first day and took out a bottle of root beer to celebrate as she had no tolerance for alcohol. Just as she took a sip of her root beer, she heard Ethan call out," Hey Gem! We're done eating!"

Gem sighed, left her opened bottle of rootbeer, and took with her the plate she used for eating.

She went down and heard the news channel droning out reports, local and international news and weather reports. It wasn't what she expected to hear from the telly and she looked to see who was watching it. It was the Spy and Archie watching. It seemed they were too intent with watching the news to notice her since none of them acknowledged her. She proceeded to the kitchen and saw a pile of plates on the table messily scattered. A fork dropped and she bent down to pick it.

"There are new updates of the man killed in his home in London. Police claim that the prime suspect is on his stepdaughter, Margaret Wesker, who has been reported missing ever since the man's death."

The picture of the man's daughter flashed in the screen and Spy froze. She looked like someone he knew, someone he had had an affair with and who also stole a piece of his heart. Her name was An-MeiFu, she was a spy for the Chinese government, and he had a week long affair with her during their vacations before she disappeared without a trace.

It was bad she looked like her mother, and it was worse that the small unnoticed ache in his heart increase a hundredfold. He will look for this girl, he would not care if she was a deranged psychopath or not. She is the key in finding An-Mei.

"Spy?"

The Spy didn't even hear him, the cigarette he had lighted was just there on his hand.

"Spy?"

"Eh? What is it, mon ami?" In jolting back to reality, the Spy had dropped his cigar.

"Gem finished the dishes at record speed this time, don't you think?"

"Is it? I didn't notice."

"You're acting weird, nothing escapes you, right?"

The Spy sighed. "Zis came as a shock."

"I'm going to bed early," Gem announced and retired to her bedroom.

"G'night, Gem," Archie said.

Except Gem lied. She knew she wouldn't sleep now that Margaret Wesker was out branded as a deranged killer. She had forgotten to paint her bedroom which still had the feel of a prison cell and she swallowed knowing that as long as she stayed that person wouldn't find her, torture her, then kill her. Her mother had always been noted for her skills for anticipating things that bordered to paranoia, even before she died she had given Gem a pair of twin pistols with the emblem of butterflies on the handles and barrels, her father also thought the same and taught her how to use them. When the team would retire she would come out and head to the shooting range to re-hone her rusty skills. With patience that rivalled the Spy's, she waited, lying on her bed staring at the ceiling fan. The clock struck two and Gem went out of her room.

She sailed across the room like a ghost, not making a sound, and once again ran through the mess in her head, though the living room was once again a bloody, mud-caked, pissed-covered, oil-slicked mess, it wasn't as bad as the first time she cleaned it, it may take her seven hours to clean it. That would have made her smile except she remembered two people who were sharper than the rest. Sharpe and the Spy. She gave herself a facepalm, her need to use the target practice room had overran the need to be cautious of them. To make it worse or to fully realize the extent of what could happen with her mistake, the Spy had been in the living room watching more news regarding about ... her.

"Not much is known about Margaret Wesker, though her uncle, a business man named Edward Reilly, has said there had never been much interaction with the father and daughter ever since the death of the mother, An-Mei Wesker née Fu."

Gem hid behind the shadows, wondering why the Spy was so curious about the Weskers. Could it be? She killed the thought with a shake of her head, perhaps he was just thinking how he would have done it.

"Merde," the Spy said and he stormed out of the living room with a cigar in his hand.

Coast was clear, she crept out of the shadows that hid her and headed for the shooting range. Just like the living room, no one was there. Apparently. She had to be careful. Silently but efficiently, she scouted out every panel the shooting range had. There were nine panels, and for some reason that Gem couldn't explain, she envied the group of mercs now.

First panel, none. Second panel, no one. Third panel, nope. Fourth panel, empty. Fifth panel, nothing. Sixth panel, zilch. Seventh, nada. Eighth, just like the others. Ninth ...

"'Ello, poppet."

A kukri was on Gem's throat.


	5. Chapter 5

"Are you trying to kill me?" Daniel asked as his blade pressed her throat.

"I'm not trying to kill you," Gem said calmly, she shouldn't breathe too deep or the kukri would make her bleed.

"Liar."

"What makes you think I'm going to kill you?" she demanded.

"Because you're a spy."

Gem gave an unlady-like snort. "I'm not a spy, I'm a housekeeper."

"Fine then, now would you kindly remove your gun from my balls?" Daniel asked. He wasn't keen on becoming an eunuch especially when it's via gunshot.

They both remove their weapons from each other while giving each other wary glances.

"You're more than you seem, Gem," Daniel remarked, finally speaking.

"Thank you, you're faster than I thought you were," Gem replied.

"Miss, you don't know anything about me."

Gem shrugged. Neither do you about me, she thought of saying.

Suddenly the world began to slow down or was it just her mind? Gem began to feel like her mind was being swallowed by a dark fog. She tried to stand up and succeeded but she stumbled, tumbling over a chair. She tried to appear nonchalant about it and she saw Daniel's eyes widen with concern. She hated it being seen like that and tried to back away tripping over her own two feet and suddenly the world was engulfed in darkness.

He didn't catch her in time and the noise she made while trying to avoid his grasp was going to wake everyone up. He had to help her up at least. Why the hell did he have to turn off the bloody lights?

He tripped over something, something fleshy, smooth...

The lights turned on.

"Oh bloody, bugger..."

"Holy hell, Daniel?" Archie said, astonished as he held on to his trusty wrench.

"Hey, hey, what's all that noise?" Ethan asked, irritated.

"Sascha need beauty sleep, you .."

"Sharpe, what iz ze mat –"

Everyone stopped grumbling and just stared at Daniel.

"Oy, a little help here," Daniel asked exasperated. Something soft had cushioned his fall and he touched someone's arm.

"Oh..." Daniel said. Gem was under him, worse still, she was unconscious!

"Okay buddy, not cool," Archie said with anger as he prepared to crown Daniel's head with it.

"Bro, a warm body might be nice, but dude, that's cold," Ethan said, readying his metal bat.

"In Soviet Russia, women are treated like fragile flowers," Mikhail said, gritting his teeth in anger as he balled his fists.

"Daniel, you have a lot of explaining to do," the Spy said.

"Wait, wait, you bloody wankers! You have it all wrong! I –"

Everyone fell on him like a pack of wolves.

* * *

><p>"Father, I don't think you should open that door," Gem said as she saw him readying himself to greet the person outside their home.<p>

"Gem, just because you _might _have your mother's gift doesn't mean it's always right," her father said with a patronizing tone.

That person ... wouldn't think of killing him. Gem knew that was a lie, her twin guns were ready.

Even before her father opened the door, her Father suddenly crumpled to the ground with an explosion of blood on his forehead.

The killer entered and the gun that killed her Father was pointed at her.

* * *

><p>Gem woke up panting. Had she done anything to her room? She didn't remember, for some reason her bedroom had changed.<p>

"Eh, fraulein, you're awake?" Jacob said amazed.

"Where am I? In the infirmary?" she asked looking around. There were shelves of bottles with blue crosses, a few jars with yellowish liquid and things she didn't want to know.

"As a matter of fact, you are."

"Bollocks, I have to make breakfast, clean the living room, this is just my second day and I'm already failing."

She looked at her clothes. They were different from what she wore last night. She glared at him. "Did you change my clothes?" She demanded. Her eyes narrowed as her temper began to escalate.

"Now Fraulein, I –"

Just before Gem awoke.

"G'morning lads, I see you're all up and about," Gage said cheerfully as he walked to the refrigerator and help himself to a can of beer.

He got it out and was about to punched in the stay-on-tab of the beercan when he noticed Daniel was tied to a chair.

"Well laddie, care to fill me up wi' what I missed?"

"Shut up, wanker."

At the same time, Ethan and Mikhail were playing Fast and Furious again. Archie was cheering for Ethan and Pyro was forced to cheer for Mikhail.

"Your almost there, stretch," Archie cheered.

Pyro was giving an unenthusiastic cheer that made Mikhail scowl at him. Pyro cheered more.

As for Spy? He was sitting next to the group reading a newspaper with a cigar.

"I am so going –" win, he would have said when a voice screamed.

"YOU FELT ME UP?"

The sheer suddenness of the scream made everyone jump including Daniel who moved so suddenly he fell along with his chair.

It was followed by a grunt by Jacob enraged footsteps.

Gem appeared before them with a handful of Jacob's collar.

"Spy, who changed my clothes?" she demanded as she forcefully pushed to Jacob to the sofa.

Spy looked at her disinterestedly and sighed. "I did."

"You what?"

"Gem, be reasonable, your clothes were ripped and dirty especially when Daniel –"

"What do you mean about Dan-Mr. Sharpe?"

"He tried to attack you," Ethan filled in.

Gem gave herself a facepalm. "Men, Mr. Sharpe never touched me, I was about to collapse and he tried to help me but I didn't let him." She sighed and asked worriedly," What did you do to Mr. Sharpe?"

"Actually, we were going to ask you what you wanted us to do to him, Gem," Archie said.

She looked warily at the Spy. "When you changed me please tell me you –"

"I blindfolded myself, Gem," the Spy interrupted her.

"How am I supposed to –!" She paused, took a deep breath, and exhaled. "Never mind, don't tell me, I don't want to know." She glanced at the kitchen. "Is Daniel there?" She asked.

"Da," Mikhail said.

"Alright, I'll be preparing breakfast then after I untie Daniel."

"Hey Gem," Ethan said.

Gem looked at him wearily. "Any special orders, Ethan?"

"No, I just want to vouch that Spy's as good as gold. He never looked at you when he changed your dress."

"How would you know?" Gem asked waspishly.

"I had it recorded." Ethan clamped his mouth, realizing his mistake. Two people approached him ominously, Gem and Spy, they each had dark expressions on their faces.

"Oh-uh," were the last words he said that were intelligible before the screaming and the shouting.


	6. Chapter 6

Daniel wiggled his fingers as soon as the bounds that tied him were cut by Gem. He was silent as he observe Gem as she proceeded to hack at the rope that bound his ankles. He would have offered but his hands still needed some blood circulation before he could use them. The galah knew how to do fancy knots, he should have known since Ethan was a boy scout. He was angry alright, not just angry, outraged by the fact his comrades thought he was capable of hurting a woman.

"You're quiet," Gem said as she finally stood up with his kukri. She placed his knife next to his breakfast plate. Absent-mindedly, she rubbed her thumb over the keen blade as she wondered if A ... the Administrator knew about what had happened.

"Thanks Gem, you're handy with a knife," Daniel said as he tried to hold his spoon and fork. The numbness was still there but it was disappearing. His hands still had the ugly welts from the rough knotting though.

"Oh please, Mr. Sharpe, it's the least I could do after getting you into trouble." Gem had a smirk on that disappeared in a flash as she sobered. "I'm sorry."

Daniel looked at her in surprise. "Don't be, it's those bloody two-bob dongos that got me roped to the chair." He realized she wasn't seated and felt like an ass. "Take a seat, Gem. Jacob said you fainted because you're exhausted."

She looked away at that and didn't sit down. She proceeded to the sink and began to wash the dishes. Daniel glanced at her discreetly, feeling like an ass while she had a great one. He almost slapped himself and turned away planning a way to let off some steam without killing any of his comrades. Comrades... the word felt rusty in his mouth now that he thought of it. He didn't even know their real faces, nor did they his. Plastic surgery to hide from the law. He may be Australian, but he never had parents who disapprove of his occupation and the person he took the place of in 1960 had a different name, a different face, hell, even the reason why they took their professions were different. He rubbed the face he took absentmindedly.

"So you say I don't know you, or I you," Gem remarked suddenly, bringing Daniel back from his thoughts. There was a small slight clatter of dishes and running water made by Gem as she continued doing them. "Why don't we tell each other our deepest darkest secrets?"

Daniel smiled at the challenge. "Why don't you start by telling me how come you bring a gun with you and why you're wearing contacts that fell off? Oh, and they're a pretty colour."

Gem automatically touched her right eye, forgetting she had soap on her fingers. She hissed in pain and closed her right eye. She cursed realizing Daniel knew a part of her. She blinked away the pain but she could see her reflection in the water that her right eye was red.

A hand lifted her chin and she was eye to eye with Daniel. "Damn, that's a bugger."

Gem turned away. "So you know my eye colour, that's not important. You had plastic surgery, didn't you?"

Daniel's smirk turned into a scowl. How'd she know?

"If you're wondering, you have raising earlobes and your face looks, sorry to be offensive, manufactured."

Daniel didn't meet her eyes anymore and was silent.

"Mr. Sharpe? Did I offend you? I'm sorry."

He was shaking, Gem realized. Was it anger? No, it wasn't. It was ... laughter?

Daniel was laughing. Whether bitter or amusement, he wasn't sure but it had been a long time for someone to tell him he wasn't who he was posing to be and he felt good about it. He wasn't the Mr. Mundy he was posing to be. He was Daniel Sharpe and she knew it. He stopped when Gem's hand touched his shoulder.

"Sorry, Gem, it's just that you're right. For once, someone is right."

Gem smiled at that. Her aloofness that was her protection was gone and later when Daniel remembered her smile, he would recall how elegant she was. "I know what you're feeling."

Daniel looked at her surprised again. "Really? How would you know?"

Gem looked at him enigmatically as she pressed her hand to his cheek to make him look at her. "Mr. Sharpe, my father was an MI-6 captain known to kill anyone who would endanger Britain. He was killed and I am the only witness to that crime, I am here because I am hiding from the killer." She left him standing there to digest what she told him.

Daniel stood there, frozen, as Gem left him with the enigmatic smile. She was gone but he was still standing. He rubbed his face again. Bloody hell, that took a while for him to digest.

* * *

><p>Spy noticed Daniel had disappeared after eating breakfast. He guessed that Daniel was probably in the shooting range sharpening his accuracy. He took a Diamondback with him as in the pretence of practicing his shot. He climbed down the stairs and was going to open a door when he heard a crack. He stopped, realizing he stepped on something made of glass. He stooped down and picked up the shattered remains of the object. It was a piece of a contact lens. He shrugged and with his foot swept the fragments to a corner no one would step on.<p>

As predicted, Daniel was in the shooting range aiming at ... unusual targets. Him, Mikhail, Ethan and Archie were placed over the bull's eyes and were decorated in bullet holes using a Machina.

"Bloody wankers... all of 'em. They should damn well know about me ..." Daniel muttered almost unintelligibly.

"Daniel," Spy said.

As reflex, Daniel automatically turned with his gun.

"Oh, you must've heard me talking." His turned back with his gun and shot at the custom targets again. "And these."

"Yes, and entirely deserved for our part, I apologize, mon ami, I would 'ave defended you but I have been working late these past two nights."

Daniel sighed and set aside his kukri and his gun and turned around to face spy."Yes, you haven't been as sharp."

Spy looked at him warily. "Did they notice?"

"Them? Lord, no. They're sharp as a beach ball."

Spy gave a weak smile. "There was one who got away twenty-one years ago. I tried looking for her once I saw a girl look like her. Turns out the girl, this Margaret Wesker is her daughter. As for her, Fu An-Mei, I just found out she died five years ago during childbirth for her second child. The babe didn't survive."

"That sucks," Daniel said, not knowing what to do.

Spy took out a picture of Margaret that he found in the internet. "Yet, I still want to know what happened to this Margaret. She disappeared after being labelled as the prime suspect of her father's murder."

Daniel looked at the picture and shrugged away the needling sensation that was in his head.

* * *

><p>Gem looked at the pile of clothes she had just finished washing, scrutinizing everything she owned and had washed. She went to look at her drawers to see if what were missing were just there. It wasn't. She had already checked the laundry area. Was someone stealing her underwear?<p> 


	7. Chapter 7

Day One of Searching Underwear Thief

Suspect: Ethan

Gem looked at her wall with pictures and notes taped to them. Her mind raced as she calculated a foolproof plan. The gears of her mind raced as she put Ethan's picture in the center of her board. She knew he was a pervert but was he actually that perverted to steal panties? He had the legs for a quick getaway but he wasn't sneaky. She began to draw on her board.

"Well Daniel, I am sincerely sorry about last night," the Spy said again.

"Alright, but you do know what you should do to make it up to me," Daniel replied with a knowing look.

"A 'ug?"

Before Daniel could refuse or even be disgusted, a throat cleared and a voice echoed throughout the shooting range. "Gentlemen?"

The Spy and Daniel looked at Gem who looked back at them blankly.

"Oh, ma petite mignon, to what do I owe zis pleasure?" Spy asked affably.

"May I borrow something from you?" Gem asked.

Spy looked at Gem, Gem just looked back at him and then she smiled.

Ethan awoke and realized he was in the dark place handcuffed to a chair. He struggled to shake himself out, in vain. He made a loud noise as he did, perhaps that was the reason why he didn't hear the approaching footsteps. A shadow fell on him, and he looked up. The demoness was in front of him, wearing a bloody torn white dress and walking barefooted.

"Confessss," a feminine whisper emanated from the approaching figure.

"Alright! I got someone pregnant before I came here! I ate Mick's last sandvich! I stole a medi-kit when Cran needed it more!"

"Confessss," the figure hissed.

"What the hell do you want me to confess?" Ethan asked as he began to reach hysteria.

"Black, white-speckled green, secrets of Victoria."

"I don't know what the hell you're talking about?"

"Are you sure?"

"Hell I'm sure!"

Gem removed the Noh Mercy mask she borrowed from the Spy. "Sorry Ethan, I thought you stole something from me."

"Gem?"

She shrugged and looked away from Ethan.

"That was so cool! I didn't think you had it in you, Gem? I thought you were some sort of prissy stuck-up British ice maiden."

Gem raised an eyebrow. Should she feel insulted or flattered? She sighed and pulled out the handcuff keys she wore around her neck. "Thank you, I think," she said as she unlocked the cuffs.

"You're letting me go?" Ethan asked incredously.

"Let's say" – Gem grunted as she located the handcuffs in the dark – " that if you weren't who I thought you were, then I'll just let you go since I scared three years out of you."

As soon as his handcuffs fell away, Ethan made a fancy flip and landed on his feet. "Damn, I feel like I've been there forever."

"Try to put it in anymore perverted footage, Ethan, and I swear you will be," Gem replied with a threat, then her voice softened as she offered her hand to him, "Here, take my hand, Ethan, it's dark here, you're going to trip and fall on your face."

He took it. "So, how'd you get that bloody dress?"

"This? This was old already, I got it from my mother." She folded up one sleeve to reveal a gash.

"You cut yourself? Are you crazy?"

He began pulling her other arm.

"Hey! What are you doing?" Gem asked as she tried to pull her arm off.

"What were you thinking?" Ethan countered," Besides, I'm hauling you to the doc, you cut your arm to put blood on your dress, are you crazy?"

His grip didn't hurt but he was firm. He was stronger than he looked also, seeing as Gem wasn't cooperating, he picked her up and threw her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. "Sorry Gem, off to Doc for you."

"Let me go! I can go to Herr Jacob myself, you bloody savage."

Ethan whistled. "Is that the best you can do, Gem?"

They continued bickering while Ethan hauled her to Jacob's place.

"Now this will hurt ... a lot," said a silhouette of Jacob. He then began to laugh insanely.

There was a mumbling scream and then nothing. Gem's heart skipped a beat and she paled. Like a deer in the headlights, she completely stilled instinctively. There was more insane laughing coupled with snipping of the scissors She closed her eyes hoping she wouldn't see something like the movie "Law Abiding Citizen".

"And done."

Gem opened one eye and saw Burns's arm stitched from a gash next to it were thread, scissors and a cotton smeared with iodine.

"Aw, there, there," Jacob said as he pulled out a jar of lollipops to the crying Burns," You get a lollipop for being so brave."

While Gem couldn't see his face, he must have brightened because of his reaction. He mumbled and took the lollipop and angled his mask at such a way that he didn't show his face to anyone but still allowed him to put the lollipop in.

Then Burns froze and his mask seemed to have shrunk with Jacob pointing at him and laughing.

"Oh hohoho hoho hoho."

"What'd you do to him?" Ethan asked.

"Oh Ethan, ha ha, those lollipops I bought from the net claimed to be so sour that your head would implode, ha ha, it's true I suppose," Jacob said between laughs, then his face sombered," Is there some sort of problem with Gem?"

"She was cutting her arm," Ethan said.

Jacob looked appalled. "Gem, do you need counselling? I have a daughter the same age as you and ..."

Gem sighed, throwing an exasperated look at Ethan.

He smiled at her, annoyingly.

* * *

><p>Hours later, Gem was back in her room. She was marking the days Jacob scheduled counselling in her calendar. Gone was the notes of Ethan regarding the underwear thief now it was replaced of pictures on how to murder him. Her fury still unquenched, she defaced the picture she had of Ethan with a marker and gave him two black eyes, a moustache, a crescent-shaped scar and two missing teeth.<p>

There was a note below him that she cared to write: Has a hidden caring streak. Pervertion is just a cover.

Status of Underwear Thief: Still at Large.


	8. Chapter 8

Suspected Underwear thief: Gage Llandrindon AKA "Demoman"

Reason for suspicion: Constant Drunkeness

Example: Has worn a bra over head, thinking it was a hat.

* * *

><p>Gem clasped her hand in glee as the entire BLU team left for another battle. She had BLU HQ all to herself, and she was determined to not only find her underwear thief but some of BLU's rooms. Knowing cleaning eight rooms (for Daniel lived in a van) was more than she could chew, she decided to take it two at a time.<p>

She entered Ethan's room first. The smell of something rotten overcame her and had her fall on her knees gasping for fresh air. She closed the door and took a deep breathe of fresh air. She felt like she had almost knocked on the pearly gates. She needed a mask. She decided to borrow a mask from Burns's room except she didn't need to. A Mr. Foster's mask was lying on the sofa of the living room. She wore it over her head, thinking how questionably prepared she was and then decided to don a pair of gloves and borrow a suit from Burns from the library. She gulped as she went back to face Ethan's room.

She screamed as she turned on the lights of Ethan's room. There were remains of Chinese take-out and pizza. Inside the box were carcasses of cockroaches and mice, apparently only Ethan was the one who could survive in his room. Gem sighed, at least she didn't have to exterminate them, not that she was squeamish with pests, just that she was uncomfortable with killing.

She slipped over a banana peel, knocking over a life-sized figurine. She glanced at it. "Candace?" she asked, thinking it was her bestfriend whom she lost contact with. It wasn't but it had the eerie resemblance of her. Gem's hand trailed to the floor to pick herself up, she touched a liquid. Looking at it, she knew it wasn't milk, and she screamed in disgust.

It was over, it was finally over. Gem looked at Ethan's room with a glow of triumph. She knew that Ethan would mess it up again but she was getting used to it just like the living room. She removed Mr. Foster's mask and breathed, the air was clean and fresh. She cheekily flicked at the lemon air freshener she taped to the airconditioner and then clambered down the ladder. Now on to Mr. Llandrindon's room. As Gem closed the door of the room, the doll was tucked in bed.

After placing the entire suit of Burns in the laundry to be given seven washings, she went to Jacob's place to grab another pair of gloves and a disposable mask. She wore clothes she had planned to dispose of and steeled herself for whatever Gage must have done to his room.

Other than his working table, everything was in a state of disorder. Her eyes widened as she saw the charred marks in the room. There was a hole that had been covered with planks that was connected to Mikhail's room.

She ran her gloved hand over her head in exasperation. She stepped forward to begin cleaning when she felt the tile she had stepped on sink a little. It was reflexes that saved her when a small cannon popped out and shot stickybombs at where she had been a few seconds ago. She got as far away as possible before they exploded. She took deep breaths as she realized that the entire place was booby trapped. How the hell would she be able to search her underwear in this hellhole?

The panel clicked back in place and her sharp eyes found an interesting detail. The tile's spacing was slightly larger than the others, so she had to look out for for those kinds of tiles. "Thank you, father, for the training you gave me," she said to herself.

There was a whirring sound again. Apparently, Gage had put a voice detector in his room also. A normal person would have given up but Gem smiled ecstatically. It was perfect, this was perfect to gauge how much of her training was rusting and how she can resharpen them. She smiled at all angles of the room, in case there was a camera that was recording her. She avoided the bombs as easily as before feeling the thrill of narrowly avoiding injury or worse death. "Come at me," Gem said with a smile as she stanced herself for incoming projectiles.

More bombs flew at her and she began her "dance".

There was none of her underwear Mr. Llandrindon's closets and drawers but Gem was too charged to care. She felt wonderful after the exercise as adrenaline still pumped in her veins. She surveyed the carnage in Mr. Llandrindon's room and rolled up her sleaves to begin picking up debris.

* * *

><p>The bottle from Gage's hand slipped and shattered upon meeting the unforgiving steel floor at the Nucleus. Suddenly, it began to rain. Gage looked forlornly at his bottle and took out another bottle of scrumpy. He would soon recall later that he mumbled about premonition.<p>

* * *

><p>Gem felt fabulous as she stretched contentedly. The new hole to Mikhail's room was boarded, the recently-made charred areas in Gage's room was strategically covered and nothing felt better than a good work out. It was a pity that she still couldn't find her underwear thief but she felt great. She went to her room, stripped off her clothes, and went in the bathroom.<p>

All in day's work, she thought as cool water splashed on her.

* * *

><p>Status of Underwear thief: Still at Large<p> 


	9. Belated Halloween Special Part One

Gem hid behind the improvised barricade of scrap metal in Archie's room, thinking it was safe, she peeked out. Only to have a bullet miss her by a hair's breadth. She ducked back behind the barricade readying her twin pistols. She was seriously contemplating whether to kill Archie for giving her not only the wrong password but the one containing a kill command that instead of just refusing her entry, pulled her into the room to be executed. It was a good thing she had decided to practice her shooting before cleaning Archie's room, Lady Luck had her keeping her pistols with her when she planned to clean the engineer's room.

Gem kept calm, closing her eyes as she waited for the right time to pop out and disable those immobile robots. She thought hard what to do, there was a large piece of scrap metal that she could throw at the sentries, this was almost impossible and very risky as not only was the piece heavy, it consisted as most of the barricade. She had considered pushing it until it crushed the sentries but she was not strong enough. She knew the knife hidden in her skirt was capable of negligible damage.

"Hell's bells," Gem muttered with a grunt. She wasn't keen on dying in a mercenaries' HQ.

She threw a smaller piece of metal that the sentries locked into and fired at and she smiled with gritted teeth as she took out two sentries by jamming their barrels with carefully aimed bullets. Three more to go, however, Gem had no more ammo to spare.

"Fu..." Before she could finish her sentence, a bullet passed through the barricade. The barricade wouldn't hold much longer! Gem felt a surge of panic now, wondering what she could do. Her eyes frantically searched the place for some sort of means of escape. They fell on a teleporter that was by Archie's bed. The sign attached to it wrote," Faulty."

Gem wondered if she should risk it and closed her eyes as she threw a larger piece at a sentry, it knocked it of its standing position which then unleashed a domino effect to all other sentries, one sentry hit a lever, activating the teleporter. Gem wasted no time and dashed for it, knowing the sentries would take only a little time to become fully functioning again. She bathed in the glowing blue lights and then disappeared before the sentries could riddle her with bullets.

* * *

><p>Gem blinked as the blinding lights flashed. She was thrown into a dimension of colours, disturbing yet elegant before landing into a dark hole.<p>

"Ooff!" Apparently, she landed inside some sort of man-sized container like a cage, she tried to climb out but something blocked the opening. "What the—?"

Then the thing glowed. She felt tremors as something began to assemble and walk. A maniacal laughing sound echoed throughout her prison and she was shaken around like a milkshake as the prison bent down to pick up an object.

She didn't know it then but she was inside the Horseless Headless Horsemann!

Music played as the Horseless Headless Horsemann was now ready.

"Seriously? That's so Nosferatu!" Gem shouted. She had no choice but to wait and be jolted as she felt her prison moving. Somehow light managed to enter her prison and she realized, what held her was not a cage, but a skeleton. What did she get herself into?

* * *

><p>"Oh hell," Gage said as he felt the tremors in the ground. Both BLU and RED clutched their weapons harder.<p>

Sgt. Cran stopped strangling soldier, Sgt. Ryan, of RED team as the latter was also strangling him. Daniel signalled to RED sniper Ralph to warn him of the imminent approach of the Horseless Headless Horsemann. Mikhail stopped chasing RED team's scout, Ian, as RED team Heavy, Alexis did the same to Ethan. Jacob was treating Burns as RED medic, Klaus, was treating RED's demoman Sykes. In the confusion, RED Pyro, Fleigh unintentionally burned Archie, who had been in the process of making a level two sentry, with a hadouken. RED engineer, Sam, tried in vain to stop the sapper on his sentry and was almost stabbed by the BLU Spy. RED Spy almost activated his Dead Ringer.

"HA HA HA HA!"

The two rivalling teams knew whom the laughter belonged to and sent each other looks to signal a truce. The Horseless Headless Horsemann was coming for them and cooperation was needed to stay alive. Once again, the two rival spies were going to have to work together and act as the leaders.

"Daniel, mon ami, can you check 'ow long it will take for ze g'ost to arrive?" BLU Spy called.

"On it, mate!" Daniel responded. He scoped and saw that it wouldn't take long for the Horseless Headless Horsemann to arrive. He pretty much remained unchanged except for something inside the apparition that Daniel was wary off. He always hated surprises. "He's coming fast, mate, and he's got a surprise!"

"Sykes, Gage, set up a sticky bomb trap for ze ghost," RED Spy commanded his colleague.

The Demomans nodded and went to do their task.

"BLU Spy turned to Jacob and Klaus. "Medics, store up all the Kritzkrieg you can 'andle and always prepare to run to a member who needs 'elp."

As the Spies set up preparations for the coming of the Horseless Headless Horsemann, Gem was still trying to get out of her pickle, literally.

"Let me out!" She shouted.

More laughing.

Like a disgruntled child, Gem folded her arms and thought long and hard on how to get out of this living prison. The rib cage appeared to be climbable, and climbing she did though it was hard as the bones were slippery smooth and the jarring caused by the prison's motion always caused her to slip. Suddenly, she heard a slight beeping sound, an unmistakable sound that she heard when Gage tried out his bombs. Realizing how much danger she was now in, she climbed up hoping to stay far from the bombs as she could.

* * *

><p>BOOM!<p>

A beautiful mushroom cloud appeared. Something flew from the cloud then started to descend. It landed on BLU Spy's feet, he picked it up wondering why a lady's shoe would appear from a mushroom. Couldn't be Gem's, she was safely tucked in BLU HQ.

* * *

><p>In case people get confused, here are the names of RED.<p>

RED Spy, name unknown. Just called RED Spy.

Sniper - Ralph

Demoman - Syes

Scout - Ian

Engineer - Sam

Heavy - Alexis

Medic - Klaus

Pyro - Fleigh

Soldier - Sgt. Ryan


	10. Belated Halloween Special Part Two

"Oy Spies! He's still coming!" Ralph shouted.

It was no surprise that the Horseless Headless Horsemann would survive that, they already knew how freakishly long his health was but at least they did him some damage. The teams gasped when they saw something form on Ralph's shirt.

"Eh? Why are you blokes looking at me like that?" Ralph asked. Then he glanced at where they were looking at. A skull and crossbones emblem was on his shirt. Ralph was marked for death! "Oh bugger."

Without further ado, Ralph jumped off his position and began to run as fast as he could. The teams followed feeling fear grip their hearts with its cold bony fingers and squeezing them.

"He's after me! He's after me!" Ralph shouted as he ran.

"Crétin, " the RED Spy muttered as he ran to catch up with his comrade," 'E needs his breath to run, not scream like a fille."

BLU Spy smiled at that as he followed his RED counterpart. "Newbie?" he inquired.

"Yes, ze other sniper quit now, wanted to help with his family with the farm after his father had a heart attack. Wanted to mend the rift with his father before he croaks."

"I see."

Manical laughing was heard and then," Boo!"

The Spies froze with fear and the gigantic skeleton passed by them, not even sparing them a glance. He raced after Ralph who had been out of earshot when the Horseless Headless Horsemann had scared them stiff. So had Jacob and Ian, the rest were still with Ralph. That was a good thing.

Finally they relaxed and sighed.

"Can this thing eat or something?" Ian asked to no one in particular.

"What?" RED Spy asked.

"This Horseless Headless Horsemann, can he eat or something?"

"Of course not! Have you been smoking pot again, boy?"

Ian folded his arms defensively. "Just asking, geez."

Fine, so be it. He wouldn't tell them about the leg he had seen through one of the holes of the Horseless Headless Horsemann.

Little known fact, the best place to hide from a bomb was to squeeze inside the head of her prison. Her small stature had made Gem able to do just that. Apparently the round thing was sturdier than a bomb shelter. It was unfortunate her slipper slipped off her foot and was lost to the explosion. Just as she was getting down from the head, an eerie sensation overcame her.

Her vision was yellow and it was following had every two men look like each other but in different costumes. The particular target she was following was Daniel and in the purple gloved hands she had in place of hers ... was a bloody axe?

Gem tried to stop running, tried to drop the axe, tried everything she thought of as to not kill Daniel but nothing happened. It was like being the driver of a skidding car about to hit a bystander.

Ralph kept on running then he tripped . He rolled to his back, only to see the glowing face of the Headless Horseless Horsemann raise his axe slowly and triumphant to use the killing blow. Fear seized him when he realized he was going to die.

"Stop!" Gem thought so hard, she thought she had screamed.

The axe remained raised in the Headless Horseless Horsemann's hand but it was trembling. Suddenly her vision went black and Gem realised she was in a black room.

"Let go of it, girl," a disembodied voice said.

Gem looked around and saw a wisp of white grow larger and larger until it turned into a man. "You," she said, her tone full of disbelief," You're Silas Mann."

"Indeed I am," the spirit said with a shrug," You're a smart wrench."

"Why are you doing this? Why are you killing these people?" Gem demanded.

"Simple really, I have things to protect in this territory, my territory. My brother entrusted me these things and I protect them from his useless dim-witted sons, not even death would tear me away from my duty. In fact, had you not been somehow placed in my body, I would have killed you by now, then again, I don't kill women."

"Ah ... yes. Your nephews." Gem still kept a defensive stance.

Silas Mann waved and suddenly a table appeared with two chairs. "How rude of me, have a seat."

Gem and Silas sat in front of each other, the only thing separating them was the table.

"What is your name, girl?"

"My name is ... you can call me Gem."

"Let's see who wins, eh? Apparently, you can fight with me for control."

"What do –?"

There was an explosion at the back of her head. Suddenly, Gem fell from the top of the container. She looked at Daniel and she noted Daniel was wearing red. Not blue when she last saw him. He saw her, she saw him and their eyes met. Not brown eyes, Gem noted, but blue. Gem's eyes caught a sliver of silver that fell and then she felt a warm sickly sweet smelling liquid splashed at her. She looked at what was left of Daniel and screamed his name.

Daniel cursed after shooting the Headless Horseless Horsemann. He didn't feel any remorse for inadvertently killing his RED counterpart but shuddered when he imagined himself being the one killed instead. He chose whether to give the Sniper a chance to escape or damage the ghost. He chose the latter.

He heard a girl scream," DANIEL!"

He scoped around immediately, thinking of Gem. But he saw nothing. Daniel rubbed his temples, wondering if his mind was playing tricks on him.

"Did you hear that?" RED Spy asked BLU Spy.

There was no answer. RED Spy turned immediately, thinking his BLU counterpart was killed already. He wasn't but the expression on his face wasn't comforting.

"Gem," BLU Spy whispered hoarsely. He heard her scream and by God, he will kill her if she's still alive.

"Mon ami, you must see you medic, there are no gems here."

* * *

><p>I'm making up for the lost time because of exams, if anyone is asking.<p> 


	11. Belated Halloween Special Part Three

Before BLU Spy could reply, his eyes widened as he saw the skull and crossbones forming on his RED counterpart's chest.

"Mon ami?" RED Spy asked.

"You better start running," BLU Spy said.

The RED Spy just smiled. "Sorry mon ami, but I'm afraid it's you who should run." With that, he stabbed his own comrade with his Big Earner. The mark transferred to BLU Spy, who recoiled in pain like a wounded viper. The RED Spy laughed maniacally and ran away with Ian.

"I'll get you for this!" the BLU Spy shouted.

* * *

><p>It wasn't just BLU Spy and Daniel who heard Gem's scream.<p>

"What? Gem is here?" Mikhail asked Jacob who was healing him.

"It seems so," Jacob replied with a thoughtful frown.

"She spawn?"

Jacob frowned deeper. "The fräulein's DNA is not even recognized by Archie's machine. She would most certainly die if someone kills her. Fortunately, she had not been harmed by Gage's or Sykes's bombing."

Gage rubbed his temples as he glanced at his scrumpy. Was he drinking too much? He swore he heard a certain lassie screaming.

Ethan chocked on his Bonk! Atomic Punch. Funny, he thought he heard Gem screaming, he reflected as he wiped his mouth.

Archie's jerked in surprise as he tried to tighten a bolt when Gem screamed. The sentry he had been working on fell to pieces. He looked around for Gem, wondering if perhaps he was putting on too much overtime.

Burns jumped, accidentally airblasting Fleigh. Fleigh landed on another patch of ground and stared at Burns. The Pyro walked to Burns and nonfatally hit the unfortunate Pyro with a Haduoken. Fleigh looked for the source of the scream, knowing who it came from.

Sgt. Cran shook his head after being punched by Sgt. Ryan. Damn, the man punched so hard he thought he heard ladies screaming.

* * *

><p>Gem clung on tight when her prison ran while trying to climb. Sometimes the skeleton she was in ran so hard, she felt the footsteps jar her bones. It was hard, once she climbed up one rib, she had to stay until a the jarring subsided. Something caught her eye, it was the BLU Spy! She had to climb faster. She grew nearer, and nearer, and nearer. Until a haze of yellow flashed with a familiar sensation overcoming Gem.<p>

* * *

><p>The Horseless Headless Horsemann slowed down and began to brisk walk to BLU Spy.<p>

"Mon dieu," the BLU Spy murmured. Shock made him slow down.

"No! Run! Run!" Gem shouted. Her lips moved but no voice came out.

Instead, the Horseless Headless Horsemann screamed," NNNHH! RAH! RAH!

The BLU Spy looked at the apparition oddly and resumed running. He activated his walkie-talkie. "Archie, I'll be meeting you at rendezvous, I may still be "It" or not depending on whom I chance upon. Over."

"Alright, I'll be making some Level 3 sentries then," Archie replied in his handheld.

Daniel felt conflicted as he saw the Horseless Headless Horsemann walking. Something in the back of his mind was disturbing him, but he didn't know what. All he knew was that if he shot the thing, it may burst back to its running gait and kill the BLU Spy. He pushed the disturbing thought his mind had formed somewhere dark and quiet.

* * *

><p>"I see you're back," Silas said, he was still sitting down on his chair. The place looked as if she never left.<p>

"I'm back. You killed Daniel," Gem said with gritted teeth.

"Does it really matter?"

"Of course it does, he'll never come back!"

Silas shook his head. "Helen never told you, did she?"

"Tell me what?"

"He'll come back. I'm sure of it."

"No one comes back from the dead, Mr. Mann. No one."

"You'll see."

Suddenly a tea tray complete with cups and a pot appeared on the table. "Have some tea, Gem. I never met a Brit here before after my brother died."

* * *

><p>BLU Spy's mind reeled at the illogical. The thing was giving him a chance to run, but why? Besides the point he needed to find a scapegoat since he wasn't a willing victim. It was the stirring shadows that had suddenly tumbled into his path that gave his heart a momentary leap of joy. Sgt. Ryan had just dropped into his lap, or rather his path, and the BLU Spy was not going to miss this opportunity. Without hesitation, he stabbed the unfortunate Soldier and ran as the skull and crossbones disappeared on his chest and reappeared on Sgt. Ryan's.<p>

"Come back here, croton!" Sgt. Ryan shouted but nothing was left of the Spy except a cloud of dust he had kicked up when he took off.

"Archie, I've transferred the curse. Are you ready?" Spy said through his piece.

"Wait." There was a muffled curse. "Ok, got it. Three ... Two ... One ..."

Thank God for disabling friendly fire, BLU Spy thought as the bullets passed through him. They rained on the Horseless Headless Horsemann like a storm.

Gem was about to sip her tea when she felt a hundred bullets riddling her body. She suddenly realized she was falling again, she frantically tried to grab for something to break her fall but her momentum made her grip slip through anything she held onto. There she felt her descent and seeing the glowing light above grow smaller and smaller.

Pain racked through her body and Gem opened her eyes. She was back in the room with Silas Mann.

"Well, you're back. You disappeared, you know, suddenly vanished and dropped my teacup. It broke," Silas Mann said conversationally.

"I'm sorry," Gem said dazedly," Am I -?"

"You're not dead. Just unconscious, I think."

"Hell's bells, I'm rather vulnerable. A stray bullet would hit me, a bomb would set off and maim me."

"You're rather pessimistic, aren't you, Gem?" He waved his hand yet again and another teacup appeared which he poured tea in for her.

"I speak the truth. How do I wake up?"

"We'll see." Silas sipped his tea and closed his eyes.

Gem saw two visions, one was in the room she was, the other was the battlefield. The arms were raised high with the ax over two figures brawling. Two Sgt. Crans?

Even though Gem never liked the Soldier, she stopped the arms from falling except ...

Daniel hadn't seen Sgt. Cran but he saw Sgt. Ryan with the Horseless Headless Horsemann's ax about to decapitate him. Daniel fired.

Gem lost focus again and only regained it to see the two Sgt. Crans split into two. She regained control over the prison and turned its head to see who was shooting her. That posture. That hat. That gun. Daniel?

* * *

><p>Daniel felt chilled when the Horseless Headless Horsemann looked at him, the sensation particularly focused on his chest. He looked down and saw the familiar skull and crossbones. "Oh bugger."<p>

He took off like the jackrabbits he used to shoot.


	12. Belated Halloween Special Part Four

Before the Headless Horseless Horsemann could turn to seek Daniel, two Pyros came out and set the ghost on fire. The ghost ignored them and ran to find Daniel, but the Burns and Fleigh continued to follow it and continued using their flamethrowers on it. They ran in a zigzag manner which made them turn at every corner but they were persistent with their one objective, which was to burn the Headless Horseless Horsemann to the ground.

Gem was screaming as she keeled over in pain. The burning she felt ate at her skin but all she could do was experience it.

Silas looked at her like some sort of experiment as he resumed sipping his tea.

Gem screamed and screamed until...

* * *

><p>Gem woke up screaming. She felt heat but she wasn't burning. Her eyes caught sight of two figures in gas masks. Burnses?<p>

She pressed herself as hard as she could to the two Pyros and waved her arms. "Burns! Over here!"

One Burns stopped and shouted with garbled words. "Fm?"

He grabbed his RED counterpart and pointed at the fast disappearing Gem.

"Mmph?" Fleigh mumbled.

But Gem was already gone.

* * *

><p>Silas sipped his tea, his thoughts revolving around how monotonous his game was. To himself, he felt like a joke coming from a twisted version of Sleepy Hollow. Besides that, he felt hollow. Perhaps it was because he was just bones, be it that it may but he didn't like that too. Now this Gem that had fallen in his lap, or more accurately, fallen inside him, his thoughts began to revolve around her. He had a theory that how harmless an object looked could become inversely proportional to how frightening it could be if it actually was harmful. The gears in his mind began to whir like clockwork as he patted his mouth dry with a napkin. How harmless had the people he was killing see Gem?<p>

* * *

><p>Daniel spied Sykes drinking his scrumpy. Other than the RED attire, he really couldn't tell the difference between him and Gage. Perhaps it was because of the fumes that could knock out small animals. Still, as Spy taught him, everyone in the team had some things that Demomans don't; a working liver and depth perception. Perhaps while the liver wasn't really an advantage but perception was, and that was what he exploited. Atop a platform, Daniel fell on Sykes with his kukri and slashed him. He wrestled to get off Sykes. Then he saw the bomb.<p>

The next minute, he saw the sky and that he was flying.

"Doctor, I am tired of waiting. We fight now!" exclaimed Mikhail as he fired into the open sky.

Jacob wasn't paying attention. He was busy listening to status reports. "The poltergeist has killed Cran."

Then a body fell a few feet in front of them.

"Eh? Big blue bird fall." Mikhail approached the body and kicked it.

Jacob stared at Mikhail with disapproval then crouched to get a better view. He fell to his backside in surprise. "It's Daniel!"

* * *

><p>Sykes recovered from Daniel's attack and continued working on his trap. He had long since knew that RED Spy had told them to turn on BLU and so, Gage was dead. Now all they had to do was not only kill all the BLU but also the Headless Horseless Horsemann. He was told that it seemed to be weakened so it was easier to attack it since it would suddenly stop or slow down. Sykes smiled evilly as he set up the bombs, what a lucky day today, or to be accurately, a lucky night tonight. He hummed a drinking song as he got to work.<p>

Suddenly a twig snapped and appeared before him was the gigantic undead!

Sykes looked at himself, the skull and crossbones were on him! He backed away hurriedly. As if to savour the moment, the ghost proceeded slowly with its axe raised higher and higher. The Headless Horseless Horsemann's boot caught a string, the ghost looked down and was engulfed in a series of explosions.

Sykes looked in triumph at the mushroom cloud he created. He proceeded to contact RED Spy to boast his achievement.

* * *

><p>"Got him, I did!" Sykes drunkenly muttered through the radio.<p>

"Alright, Sykes, hunt down the BLU team, we've lost too much men already." RED Spy looked at the body of Ethan. He never did take after his mother, the spy thought with detachment.

* * *

><p>Daniel's eyes opened to see the dark starry sky. He moaned a bit before he got up. "Thanks Doc, I'm was sure I was going to die."<p>

Jacob looked at him with an arched brow. "You almost did, anyway."

"Baby is not baby," Mikhail said with approval.

Daniel shrugged.

* * *

><p>Sykes wheezed and began to stumble off to find some BLU except a flash of yellow prompted him to turn around. The crater left as a remainder of his trap continued to give out yellow light. Unsettled, Sykes grab his gun and walked cautiously to the pit.<p>

An arm came out, not that of a skeleton but of a human! Sykes smiled, must be one of the idiot BLU trying to trick him.

"Alright, come out so I can shoot you!" Sykes said with a hiccup and then a giggle.

Instead of a BLU team he expected, a girl with yellow eyes came out. Sykes's smile grew wider. She wasn't his type, but she would do. "Here lass, I won't show you. In fact, I want to give you a good time, come here now, don't be shy."

The yellow eyes did nothing to intimidate him but the girl slowly raised her arms and then exposed the large ax the Headless Horseless Horsemann had!

"Oh, you like games?" Sykes asked.

The girl smiled and then disappeared. The last thing Sykes saw was the girl's smile at a closer distance and her ax bifuricating him.

The girl examined the mess she made of the Demoman and then laughed. "You should have looked at your face when I cut you in half," the girl laughed in a voice the medley of a man's and a woman's. "Priceless."

She touched her face. "Oh yes, it's delightful to wear a coat of flesh once again."


	13. Belated Halloween Special Finale

Gem was happy. She was with her mother who was holding a baby. "Mama!"

"Gem! So glad of you to join us. How is your father?"

* * *

><p>Alexis laughed as Klaus retold him how he found the late RED Demoman, Cox, with his late wife in bed. Tears came out of the big man's eyes and he had to wipe them.<p>

"And she said," No, Hans! It's not what it liiks like!" But it was!"

"Tell me! What happened?"

"I had the medi-gun in my hand, so I shot both of them with syringes containing a substance causing paralysis. they couldn't move, couldn't talk but they could feel. Cox was first, I based his murder on a movie I saw. I had the engineer build me a contraption in my home some time before but I never had the chance to use it. So I tortured the scweinhund first by shaving oves his penis, i opened up his body without anaesthesia, cut off his eyelids so that he wouldn't blink, pumped his system with adrenaline so he wouldn't faint, made sure he wouldn't swallow his tongue and then I unleashed all hell on him."

"Your wife?"

"I made her sit in front of ne as I operated on Cox. Bound her and had her gagged. She died in the middle of me removing Cox's appendix."

"She die of fright?"

"Technically, she was so frightened she swallowed her gag and choked."

"To death."

"To death."

Alexis and Klaus looked at each other soberly and then burst out laughing.

"You killed a woman? That's not Mannly."

Alexis and Hans stopped laughing and looked up. An eerie girl with yellow light coming from her eyes was sitted on a branch. She stood up and laughed then quickly descended on them with her large ax.

* * *

><p>"Miss Pauling, you hover when something is wrong," the administrator said. She continued looking at the new form of Silas Mann. It looked so much like Gem.<p>

"Er yes, Ma'am. All messengers have searched for Gem everywhere and lastly in Archie's room. Some messengers were killed while destroying sentries but they managed to have the machines disabled. They found no sign of Gem but they found a switched on teleporter ... with a sign that says faulty."

Miss Pauling saw the Administrator's face slowly change from indifference to worry. The Administrator looked at the screens again and uttered a single word," Gem."

* * *

><p>Archie and Sam couldn't believe their eyes when they saw Gem walking towards them. The sentries registered the threat that Archie and Sam didn't see and began shooting. They were forced to take them down.<p>

Gem glanced at them with yellow eyes and ran towards them, brandishing the ax that had slaughtered them so many times.

The ground was soon baptised with blood.

Gem grinned at the bloody hardhats and put them on, whistling a little ditty.

* * *

><p>He knew it the first time he saw her. The BLU Spy had to take Gem to a safe place and continue to kill the ghost before he kills her. He grabbed her by the shoulder but stopped when he saw her yellow eyes.<p>

And that was the last thing he saw before he felt the sharp blade go through his chest and out.

"Gem," he whispered. But the yellow eyes didn't recognize him.

* * *

><p>"Whoah, a chick!" Ian said as he saw Gem. He ran towards her, only to pass her. His face froze in horror as the top part of his body fell of his waist.<p>

* * *

><p>Mikhail observed the wind as he felt a chill. He looked at the glowing lights and tapped Jacob's shoulder. "That light, what is?"<p>

Jacob shrugged. The lights seemed too small for them to be the Horseless Headless Horsemann's. Until an ax caught him by the shoulder and pushed him to a tree.

"Doctor!"

But the good doctor was dead and Mikhail was next.

* * *

><p>Dead. The Heavy was dead. The girl held his mutilated head and then threw it.<p>

The two Pyros suddenly appeared.

"Fe font fant fo pht fu."

"Speak without your masks. I can't understand you," Gem replied with the strange voice.

Before she could charge at the pair, a gun cocked behind her. He planted it to her head to show how close he was to firing her.

"Wouldn't do that if I were you, mate."

Gem faced him.

"Oh God, Gem."

"Phm!" the RED and BLU Pyros exclaimed.

Quickly, she kicked Daniel's stomach and leg sweeped the two Pyros, using surprise as her weapon. Seizing the oppurtunity, she dashed to Jacob's body and removed her ax. Again she rushed to the Pyro's narrowly missing them as the two tripped over a rock when she swung her ax but she didn't notice and soon turned to Daniel.

He backed slowly as she walked towards him slowly, intent on savouring the kill.

* * *

><p>A tear fell, then a second, a third, then they began to cascade on her cheeks. "Mama, I'm so sorry. So sorry but this is a lie. You're a lie, that baby is a lie. This is just an illusion. You're not real and I'm so sorry." Gem's pistol cocked as she raised it.<p>

Her mother's features changed from serene to fury. It contorted to the Hannya of Japanese folklore. Dropping the baby, she charged at Gem with one thought in mind. To kill.

Gem repeated her apology and pulled the trigger. "You're dead to me."

* * *

><p>Daniel braced himself for the killing blow. But the blow never came. Incredously, he looked up.<p>

Gem was looking at him with the same incredolous he wore. The ax she held was fast dissolving into the air. Her eyes lacked the yellow light that had been there previously. "Daniel?"

"Gem?" Before she could reply, her eyes rolled back and she fell on him. "Oy, Gem." She was unconscious but he noticed a few tears fall. He sighed and turned to the survivors speak none of this ever.


	14. Chapter 14

Gem's eyes fluttered and then opened. She was back in Jacob's infirmary and aching as if she did a thousand push-ups suddenly without a warm-up. There was no one in the room and she wondered why. It wasn't like the doctor was dead, right?

Then it all came back to her in flashes. Her killing someone like Gage, torturing then slaying Archie, bifuricating Ethan, slaying Jacob and Mikhail and ... almost killing Daniel. It wasn't her fault, she had been possessed. But whose arms' were it that raised the weapon? Who smiled when the blood bathed her like in a baptism? Who felt the thrill of seeing someone die before her? It was her, after all wasn't she also the one who pulled the trigger at her own mother?

"No..." Gem whispered. She couldn't have but she did. Her knees weakened with guilt and slowly she sank to the ground and wept. Tears she had kept from spilling were now cascading like a waterfall. She covered her face with her hands and sobbed.

That was how Daniel found her. Gem was in some corner, huddled like some creature ashamed to show itself to the light.

"Oy, Gem. Eat up. I brought up breakfast."

"Why am I here?" Gem asked without lifting her head.

"Well you were possessed by HHH and you massacred almost everyone but me and the Pyros. The Admin brought you to the hospital but the doctors there said you were just in a really deep sleep."

"And I'm here? Mr. Sharpe, need I tell you I am a killer? I ought to be in jail."

"Well, I killed people also but I am not in jail."

"Yes but you were paid by m ... Administrator and I killed all her employees."

The door creaked open and Jacob appeared just like he did in a normal day, no cuts or bruises or even the signs of any injury she caused him. "As a doctor, I must insist you must eat Gem."

Gem took one look at him and then fainted. Daniel caught her just in time fromletting her head meet the floor.

"My point exactly, people should never miss their meals."

"Doc, she just fainted because she thought she killed you and you're back to haunt her."

Gem woke up again and found herself next to some sort of generator. Like an animal next to an unfamiliar object, she backed away from it warily.

"Hey." Gem turned to that annoying voice that she thought she would never hear again. Ethan was grinning at her and she backed away like a reversing car.

"Yo, Gem's awake."

The whole group surrounded her with no signs of injury. Gem was sure she was in hell with some sort of illusion except it seemed so real. She edged away from them as far as possible. She looked for some way to get out. To escape from this place of madness. But hell never had exit doors.

It was the Spy who approached her at first, doing it as gently as possible as to not scare her.

"Gem, we're all alive."

"But I killed you, I didn't mean to but I killed you. Are you going to do the same to me?" Gem asked.

"We knew you were possessed. Daniel even vouched that you cried when you came to."

Gem looked away. "So why are you all still alive then?"

Before Spy could reply, Ethan was on him and beating him dead with a metal baseball bat.

It was a clean kill, not much blood was spilled when the Spy fell except a few drops of blood fell on her when he had already fallen which made it impossible to happen. Gem had been looking at Spy's body when she felt it and looked up at Ethan when her body was still registering shock. Ethan was looking at her with eyes glazed over and a blade poking out of his chest.

"What in God's –"

"Now Gem, wait for it," Spy said with a slight smile.

A few seconds later, Ethan was shooting as he charged at Spy who promptly killed him with a well timed stab.

"What just happened?" Gem asked, obviously disturbed.

"You see that machine next to you?" Spy asked her.

Gem looked at it. "I've never seen anything like it. However I presume this is the reason for all of your revival?"

"Correct, Gem." It wasn't from the mercs but Gem knew who the voice came from.

"Ma'am," Gem said deferentially.

"Yes, Gem," The Administrator said," I would like to know how you got into a dangerous place without transportation."

Gem tossed a discreet glance at Archie and sighed. "It was my fault Ma'am, I was curious to how these soldiers of fortune were working for their money and decided to see for myself. They had actually told me what they did for a living but I have always wondered why they are still alive despite the danger in their field of work."

"Men, I would like a private word with Gem. Out. Now."

Everyone cleared out but Spy lingered and left as the last.

"Gem, the truth."

"Curiosity killed the cat, Aunt."

"Gem, don't use that term with me if you work for me. You are an employee and I am the employer."

"Let's set this aside, aunt. For now at least, I am sorry I worried you, that time I entered was a life or death situation with me. Had I known that there was a machine that could bring me back to life I wouldn't have left this place."

"Gem, it doesn't work that way. Your DNA isn't registered to the machine, you would have really died."

Gem froze as she let the fact sink in and then breathed deeply. How close she had been to losing her life!

"Look Gem, we will discuss this when you're better. As for that man, there are signs that he may be here in America."

Gem's hands clenched and were forcefully relaxed.


	15. Chapter 15

A month passed and Gem was back on her feet, cleaning and cooking for the mercs once again. Only this time, she seemed to be tense. No one really noticed except for Daniel and for the Spy. Not that Daniel cared as he practiced in the shooting range. It was easier for her to get excited and she developed an uncanny ability to spot put anyone looking at her. Daniel shrugged as he decided to use the new automatic rifle Mann Co. developed and was going to pull the trigger when ...

"That is it! I have had it with all of you people! Can't you all give a lady some peace!"

BOOM! The rifle exploded and while Daniel's face was fortunately not blown off, his face felt like someone poured lava on it along with black paint. He whipped out his sunglasses to inspect it when Ethan burst in. "Hey Dan –" Ethan blinked and then smiled. "You didn't disguise yourself properly, Spy. You still have your mask on."

"Dammit, Ethan! It's me, Daniel!" He irritatedly wiped away the soot on his face to prove it.

"Dang, Danny boy. Had me fooled there for a second. Anyway, Gem's called everyone up and she ... is ... pissed."

"Y'think?" Daniel asked sarcastically.

Pissed was an understatement. So what could describe her feeling now? Enraged? Furious? Gem didn't care and she was intent on doing something about her stolen underwear. It was scary really that she learned how to induce fear just because a ghost possessed her once. Here she was, a monkey wrench on held behind her back like a duelling pistol and before her an almost complete group of mercs. She walked back and forth to vent out the red she was seeing.

"Now Gem, you are as they say pissed," Spy reasoned.

"Pissed? Pissed? PISSED?"

"Alright you are furious."

"That's an understatement." However, Gem began to outwardly calm down. Still, she didn't lose the monkey wrench. As much as Spy wanted to get it, he couldn't because she locked herself in a room and could only be contacted with a portable TV that had been once attached to a deceased messenger. The thing all the mercs feared was that she also locked in with her the respawn machine. Ethan and Daniel just arrived and looked at the TV in dismay.

"So everyone's here. That's nice."

"Alright, Gem. What do you want."

"Someone has been getting my underwear."

There was an awkward silence that ensued. Gem carried on," And I am not keen on going out without them."

"Then how'd you bring in the respawn machine," Archie asked.

"Hell hath no fury on a woman scorned. I am a woman of many means, Archie."

Ethan snickered which Gem saw. Her eyes narrowed at him while Mikhail and Jacob tried to make him shut up. "Apparently, someone doesn't want to take me seriously. I'll just have to show you all how serious I am." With that, Gem raised the monkey wrench and swung it to the respawn machine.

Mikhail promptly strangled Ethan.

Then impact of the monkey wrench sent bits of the respawn machine flying everywhere. Everyone looked at the bits of machine in dismay.

Then Ethan came back which confused the team.

"Oy Spy, I think Gem set us up."

"We shall see, mon ami."

Mikhail burst open Gem's door with a tackle and froze. Everyone rushed to see what Mikhail saw and also froze. Gem was gone, nowhere in sight. On the floor were trashed parts Archie had asked Gem to get rid of.

"The fraulein is gone!" Jacob said.

Pyro made incomprehensible noises as he jumped up and down pointing at a piece of paper on taped to the wall.

It read:

Dear All,

I am off to do some shopping. Don't look for me and don't tell the Administrator. Best scenario: She fires you and skins me when she finds me. Worst case scenario: She also skins you all literally while me, figuratively, then I'll use the respawn machine to bring you all back then kill you all again.

Yrs,

Gem

* * *

><p>Gem was doing some shopping alright. She tapped her finger against the glass shelved containing various guns as she waited for the man to ring up her purchases.<p>

"Took me a long time to make these babies. My brother had to email me the blue prints," the man mumbled.

"Your brother? I knew you were related but I thought distantly," Gem said with slight surprise.

"You Brits always make assumptions, we're half-brothers." He said it with a small smile.

"I'm not Brit. I was just raised there." With a slight bow, Gem left.

"She's gone?" Ethan shouted.

"Mphm?" Burns said.

"Shopping?" Spy exclaimed incredously.

"Maggots, Gem gave us the best idea. We are going shopping!" Sgt. Cran quickly ran out of the HQ.

"Oy, don't you dare –!"

Too late, Sgt. Cran was already in Daniel's van and honking. Daniel slammed his head on the table. He would have just stayed there trying to ignore the Soldier hadn't Mikhail picked him up like a kitten. Spy was leaning on him and brandishing his butterfly knife and then sharpening it with a rock. "Now, now, Daniel. As much as you are my mon ami, I still wouldn't like my 'ead in the Administrator's office like a deer. Now would you, I presume."

Gem removed the temporary dye on her hair as she stepped out of a public shower. She looked at the mirror and removed the extra brown contact lens she had after the first pair was lost. Her eyes shimmered like emeralds in the light as she looked at her reflection. She wore a red parka and a pair of orange goggles. Nothing inconspicuous, she thought as she glanced at everyone in the bath for expressions. Her twin guns were well-hidden and she knew she was ready. She stepped out...

And almost collapsed. She felt it raw and primal, she knew this feeling. It was Fear and not only that, it was his presence she felt.


	16. Chapter 16

The presence was too strong. Gem staggered, trying to keep her legs straight but it was in vain and she fell. Tremors wracked inside her as painful memories flooded in her head almost making her panic. People crowded around her, concerned. A man offered his hand to help her stand up but she ignored it and was slowly able to stand up. "I'm fine," she said, finally finding her voice. Yet more people crowded around her. "I'm fine!" She pushed them away and ran.

She felt stupid for thinking she was ready to face her family's killer and she knew if she didn't think carefully and quickly, she would be a dead stupid. Candace should be here along with her brother. They had still kept in touch even after what happened to her. Candace and her brother, Aden, should still be here in Badlands. By God, she hoped that at least. She continued running, relying on her memory to find where her friends lived.

Burns was the last one to get inside the car. He had needed to take a leak before going and the trip to the city was long, or at least that was what he wanted them to think. He had actually phone called someone, someone his team didn't trust. Spy wasn't the only one who could keep a secret after all. So Gem was out, and he had an inkling that he knew who she was when they finally saw each other in the Haunted Mansion. She had worn a smart disguise and he never realized it until that. Then again, she always had the knack for disguises. Hell, it was only Spy who seems to outmatch her with disguises. Gem, he should have known she would use that name when she was hiding.

No one answered the door of the Burnsides. Yet the nameplates still had the words "Candace Burnsides" and "Aden Burnside." Gem knocked harder, they never said they were going to move but they weren't answering their door. Then it hit hurt, like a right jab on the belly. He couldn't have ... could he? She tackled the door and the rusty hinges gave way, creaking and groaning as they broke. No one, the apartment was as empty as a tomb. It was apparent that no one had been living in it for a long time.

"Candace?" No answer.

"Aden?" No answer still.

She raced inside to the bedroom where she and Candace had a sleepover party in. It was empty. The others were also empty. She was in the master bedroom now, the last room she checked and like the others, it was empty. A horrible thought flashed in her mind and suddenly, her eyes felt hot. He must have killed them, the monster. She didn't cry anymore, she was too tired of crying to cry, but she was about to sob when something in the huge mirror in the room tipped her off.

Her two pistols whipped out in a flash. The fear she expected gave way to fury. Not here, not now, she screamed in her mind. It was impulsive but she knew that it was also unexpected so she went with it. She pulled the triggers of her twin pistols continuously. The figure jumped out of the way and Gem backed away without stopping her barrage of bullets. She stopped and when the figure realized that she had run out of bullets, he stepped into the room. Gem smiled and pulled the trigger of one pistol, putting her sole intent of killing in it. She missed his heart but it hit his right shoulder. He moved out of her way again. There was a sound of glass shattering and when the figure looked in. Gem was gone and a window was smashed.

"Alright everyone, split here and find Gem. When you find 'er, bring 'er to me," Spy roared. He was going to kill Gem for putting them through this.

"Alright, mate. But have you seen Burns?" Daniel asked the Spy.

Spy shook his head. "Must 'ave given 'imself a 'eadstart, mon ami. Now go or Admin will have our 'eads."

Gem landed on the roof like a cat and continued running. She dare not look back and lose her momentum or trip over something. Adrenaline made her run faster and see things slower, which worked well to her advantage. It even acted like a painkiller as she didn't feel fatigued. She jumped from one rooftop to a lower rooftop and then to a low platform then her feet was soon on the ground.

The figure cursed but he couldn't help but grin in triumph as he was able to hit her. She didn't even know it but she was going to die.

Gem's run slowed into a walk as she tried to find the bus home. She walked past crowds who didn't notice her and she felt dead inside. She was truly alone now. Candace and Aden were gone, she no longer had friends nor family. Only her would-be killer knew her and if he ever caught her, killed her, and then hide her body, no one would even try to look for her. A hand grabbed her shoulder and Gem's heart started. Was it shock or was it a heart attack? She couldn't even see the person's face clearly. Everything looked blurry as her heart threatened to jump out of her chest. Then ... darkness.

Burns caught Gem before she hit the ground and almost dropped her when he saw something embedded to her neck like a plugged outlet. He let out a muffled gasp and almost pulled out the knife but Fleigh stopped him. Burns nodded at Fleigh and the RED Pyro nodded back before disappearing into the shadows. Burns grunted as he heaved Gem to his shoulder, he proceeded back to the van and hoped the knife in Gem's neck wouldn't kill her.

"Merde," Spy whispered in dismay when he saw the jutting knife.

The BLU Pyro nodded. He set Gem face down on Daniel's bed, not caring if it would get bloodied. His mind raced, wondering if Gem was dying. He knew Fleigh was worried too. So was Spy and he was shouting at all units to find Jacob and then bring him back at top speed.

"She's lucky," Jacob said as he wiped the blood of his hands," No permanent damage, the knife missed her spine by half an inch. Would've been paralyzed actually but the man missed."

"She is alright?" Spy asked.

Daniel was on a chair, pretending to sleep.

Burns, on the other hand, was asleep with a comic book covering his face. He was obviously exhausted from keeping vigil over Gem. He even helped Jacob during the surgery.

"Yes, she'll be alright... but..." Jacob frowned as he looked at Spy.

"But?" Spy asked impatiently. Daniel's ears were tuned to what the men were saying.

"You better come and see for yourself..." Jacob said. Spy was already gone.

"Gem, you little fool. You better 'ave a good reason for running off and almost getting ki –"

He stopped when he saw Gem. Except she wasn't. The person before him was Margaret Wesker.


	17. Chapter 17

The silence in the infirmary was stifling to the point of suffocating, yet no one knew how to break the silence. They glanced at each other warily, like fencers not knowing whether to put away or draw their weapons. Spy decided he needed to smoke, and he did so, putting a cigar in his mouth and light it.

"Spy, this is the infirmary, not a smoking-area," Gem said.

"Ah, she speaks."

"Are you angry? I know you've been looking for me but I still hid from you but I didn't lie, I have always been called Gem."

"I'm not sure, part of me is, part of me is impressed, you could 'ave been my daughter."

Gem visibly flinched at the last phrase.

The cigar dropped from the Spy's mouth. It wasn't possible, was it? Gem's evasive gesture, she was looking at his left shoulder, something he did when younger. His mouth went dry and the cigar between his teeth fell to the floor. Daughter, daughter, it echoed in his head. Impossible, she was eighteen years old. Which would be the same year they had the affair. The voice was now a full blown four alarm fire now. He had a eighteen year-old daughter he never knew of. "Gem, is there something I should know."

"Spy, Mama told me you're my biological father. My Papa as she told me." Gem pressed herself to her pillow as if she could shrink away without saying the rest of it.

So that was what Anmei fed her too. How could he be certain it was true? How could she keep this secret from him? She damn well knew he had a right to know about Gem if that was the case.

He wanted to deny it, but instead in a shaking whisper he said," Is she dead?"

"Mama is truly dead." Gem closed her eyes as if the news reopened an old wound. "Mama gave me something, to give to you." She tried to get up but Spy pushed her down.

"No, I'll get it."

"It's a CD, Spy, I placed it in a photograph. The one with my mom, him, and me." Her eyes were getting heavy. Jacob's sedative seemed to be taking effect.

"Okay." Her lips curled at that in an almost unseen smile then her head fell back. She was out.

Spy looked at her. His chest tightened. A child, he had a child who had already become an adult. He didn't realise how much he had wanted a child until Gem appeared. He kissed her on the forehead and then left her to Jacob's capable hands.

Jacob looked at him. "Spy, Gem requested a test between you and her before I called you. I –"

* * *

><p>"Not another word, Jacob. There's something I must do."<p>

And so, the Spy went to Gem's room and found the CD. It had his name on it.

Anton

It surprised him that he almost forgot his name. It was rusty in his mouth.

Without a second to lose, he went to his room and played it.

"Good evening, Anton."

It was Anmei and she was holding a dark-haired baby, Gem.

"It's been a year since I left you. Do you count the days that have passed? I do. I miss you and I think about you but now even more. I named her Margaret because her nickname would be Meg and from Meg, we get Gem. You would call me Gem in French, remember?"

Yes, he did.

"I was in love with you and when I realised that, I left like the coward I was. To this day, I wonder what would if I had been upfront with my feelings for you, did you feel the same with me? I was scared because of your past, you were a womanizer and I was still reeling from a broken heart so I thought it was better if I just left. And I did, I vanished while you were asleep. Little did I know, I didn't just keep a piece of you in my heart."

Anmei carried Gem who was contentedly sleeping.

"She has your eyes, did you know that? Not the colour but the shape, and your personality. Curious, sneaky, and charming, everyday I am reminded of what you and I shared as she grows. Now I am married to John Wesker, he knew I was pregnant with her yet he still married me. It was a cover, he is a spy who needed it and even though he has the rank of captain, you're still the best. To him, Gem is just a very small person but soon he realized she has the potential to became a spy, thanks to your blood and mine, as I told you, my ancestor is Fu Manchu. So he plans to make her Britain's greatest weapon but it's thanks to his sister, Helen, that he cannot separate her from me yet. While she had an ulterior motive doing so, it was because she never liked her brother, we have become best of friends and she plans to do what she can to make me keep Gem. Still, I cannot help but imagine what it would be like if I had married you instead. You would have been a good father, Anton. You deny it in our dates, but I could see you wanted to become one and be one. That boy in the mall during Smissmas? He must be an assassin by now."

Baby Gem made a small mewling noise and then twisted a bit.

"When Gem is old enough, I will ask her to look for you. I pray when the day comes, you will welcome her with open arms and know that I will always love you."

Anton turned off his computer and rubbed his tired eyes. He felt some guilt as even though Anmei had stolen his heart, he moved on. Now he had a daughter with eighteen years to make up for. He stood up and stretched and left his room. He went downstairs, passing by Ethan, Sgt. Cran and Mikhail who were watching naughty stuff, this time he didn't reproach them or do anything to rebuke them. His thoughts were filled with one girl in his mind.

He burst in the infirmary, startling Burns who tossed the tray in the air and had the medicine landing on him, drenching him in multi-coloured liquids. Jacob held up the file again.

"Spy, would you like to see the file?"

"No, there's no need, Jacob. I know in my heart, she is my daughter I just denied it until I had proof."

Spy smiled as he sat on the chair. She was still asleep but he still hugged her.

And he heard the softest whisper.

"Papa."


	18. Chapter 18

All the mercs gathered in the living room, wondering what the Spy wanted to hold right now. They hadn't seen Gem for two days and that was because she had been in Spy's room. Rumours spread but it never reached Spy's ears nor Gem's. For one thing, they'd have hell to pay if they did. Jacob looked at the pictures of Rachel and decided to call her after the meeting was done. Mikhail was cleaning Sascha while Archie kept bugging him on a design for a machine that could clean all the guns in the HQ. Daniel was wondering if Gem and Spy were having a relationship. Ethan and Demoman were snoring on the couch after a night of heavy drinking. Soldier was discussing with himself the best way to translate what Sun Tzu said.

Finally Spy appeared. "Gentlemen, there is someone I'd like you all to meet."

Daniel rubbed his forehead. "Spy, if you're going to do that gloating over something you thought you couldn't achieve but could –"

"Everyone, meet Gem," Spy said as he gestured his hand to Gem's direction.

Gem squirmed uncomfortably as she stood.

"Spy, this joke not funny. We know Gem," Mikhail said.

"She's my daughter."

Silence.

Then Mikhail laughed at first breaking the awkward silence, followed by the other mercs except for Jacob. "Spy, had us fooled there for minute."

Spy kept silent so did Gem. "I'm not joking, Mikhail."

"He's not joking, Mr. Vladimirov."

Everyone's jaws (again except for Jacob) dropped.

"Spy, how old are you?" Archie asked.

Ethan suddenly woke up. "Huh? Whud? Had a dream Spy said he had a kid, a girl kid."

"That would be me, Ethan."

"Gem?" Ethan exclaimed," How could this geezer be your dad?"

Stab. Ethan slumped on the couch, dead. Spy appeared from his cloaking device.

Suddenly Gem found herself surrounded by the mercs. She tried to entertain everyone's question but there were so many. If she were to answer Mikhail's question, Archie would pull her to him and ask her a different question then Jacob would pull her to him. She was getting dizzy. She realized Burns wasn't there anymore. There was an odd feeling twisting her gut and she saw him climbing up the stairs.

"Men, we must celebrate! I have my daughter," Spy said.

"Really? Great! I'm calling for pizza!"

"No wait, it should be Gem who should be calling for pizza. She's the guest o' honour."

No one noticed she slipped away.

* * *

><p>Gem followed Burns stealthily trying hard not to be noticed. She stepped on the floors silently and hid whenever Burns looked behind his back. It soon became a pattern. Stop. Wait. Crouch. Hide. Look. Sneak. It was a cycle she had to be careful about.<p>

Finally, Burns stopped walking. He was ….

Going to his room?

Gem arched her brow. Why was Burns behaving so secretive about?

Curiosity had Gem edging to the door as if it were some sort of spirit beckoning her. Her hand touched the doorknob and she hesitated. Knowing the mercs, something unpredictable was always bound to happen sooner or later. Some things were better off not knowing. Still she was her father's daughter and like him, not knowing was a feeling that would eat at her until she satisfied the need to know. She realized she was unprepared for any boobytrap. Then again…

Gem stamped with her right foot, a blade came out of her shoe. She did the same to her left foot and a blade also shot out of it.

Gem turned the doorknob and entered.

There were two Burns. One was RED, one was BLU, they seemed shock but Gem really couldn't tell with the masks they were wearing. What should she do? Scream? Say something like "RED Pyro in the base"? Instead she took a deep breath to calm herself and looked at who could be potential traitors.

"What are you doing here?" Gem asked.

The RED Pyro, Fleigh, just mumbled and it grated on Gem's nerves.

"Remove your mask. I can't hear you properly."

Fleigh hesitated and put hands on the mask to remobe them. The RED Pyro did but before Gem could actually see Fleigh, the Pyro flung the mask at her. Gem ducked and tackled Burns to the ground. Her right foot suddenly jammed the blade on her shoe dangerously close to his crotch. "Stay there, whoever you are. Or this guy gets it," Gem said as her eyes were still on Burns.

Her eyes trailed to the RED Pyro but she saw something else that infuriated her. Her underwear was on the bed. "You're my underwear thief?" She shouted. She furiously looked at Fleigh and almost had screamed.

Candace Flare "Fleigh" Burnside was looking at her guiltily.

As if in a dream, Gem peeled of Burns's mask.

Aden Bernard "Burns" Burnside was trying to cover his face with his arms.

"You two…" Gem said as her face was covered by her long hair.

"Gem, we're so sorry. We were going to tell you about us but you suddenly came," Candace babbled.

Ethan opened the room and saw Gem. "Hey Gem, we heard a noise and … Whoah. Getting serious with Burns already?"

"What? No! I -!" She flung herself away from Aden.

Ethan froze. "Aden?"

Aden just continued covering his face. "I am not Aden," he said lamely.

"Ethan, you know Aden?"

"I know Aden but I didn't know Burns is Aden and I didn't know you know Aden." Then Ethan saw Candace. "Candace?"

"Ethan?" Candace shouted with the same shock.

"You both also know each other?" Gem said, now washed with confusion.

"Of course we know each other, we got married and then divorced," Candace said too stupefied to know what she said.

"WHAT?" Gem said, "Wait, I understand how Ethan didn't know you were here but how could you not know Ethan is here?"

"That would be because of me." The mumbled but more coherent voice said coming from Aden.

Gem rubbed her temples. "This is going to be a long story."

As the former couple still continued staring at each other, Gem pinned Aden's arms away from his face. "Well, talk. Now."


	19. Chapter 19

"I can't talk here, they're here," Aden argued.

Before he knew it, they were in Gem's room. "Alright," Gem said," Now talk." Aden was on her bed and Gem was leaning near him.

Aden sighed. "Alright, it happened like this ..."

* * *

><p>What happened two years ago...<p>

"Guess what?" Candace told her twin brother, Aden. She was doing a piroutee in her joy.

"Gem sent you an email?" Aden asked with a wry grin.

"Better."

"She sent a gift?"

"Even better than that. And wait, Gem?"

"Ah, not Gem then."

"He asked me out!" Candace giggled and she was dancing so gracefully that her brother almost thought she was dancing in the air. He didn't see how happy she was though, in fact his whole face darkened like a pot collecting soot.

"You've been what?"

The graceful ballerina was gone. Her glare could have killed weaker men, but he wasn't one of them. Neither of them were, after all, their father taught them the family trade before passing on. The trick was only to dispose of any evidence that could be left behind, hence the reason their family's MO has been using fire. Who wouldn't? Fire was all consuming, burn a body properly and all you get is a nice innocent-looking pile of ashes where the person used to be. Aden was thrilled on the prospect of wringing the unknown man's neck for taking away his sister.

"I am dating, or at least beginning to," Candace replied crisply as she tried to cool the fiery temper inside her.

"You're not dating, you're still sixteen," Aden said firmly.

"Who died and made you my father?" Candace shot back. Her posture in akimbo. "You dated when you were 12."

"I – I guess it's just that I see you as my little sister and I'm your big brother, I'm supposed to be protecting you from guys like me," Aden said softening.

"Well, I suppose I have enough experience to hold out on my own, old man," Candace gave him a quick peck on the cheek and left him to prepare for her date.

* * *

><p>"So just like that, I see my lil' sister growing up in front of me, it's like Alice in Wonderland," Aden said to his friend, Ethan.<p>

"Sucks to be you, bro. That's why I like being the only child, half the fun but half the headache," Ethan replied as he looked at his watch.

"Dude, you're in a hurry for someone. Anyone I know?"

Suddenly, Ethan's eyes bugged out when he realized Aden was still here. "Why are you even here?"

"Just that I needed a walk and then you're here."

"Well you need to go. Now." Ethan started pushing him.

Unfortunately, Aden got out of his pushing with a side-step. With some fancy footwork he acquired from his father, Aden went behind Ethan and grabbed Ethan in an arm lock. "C'mon, Ethan. You know I've been better than you here. So who's the lucky lady?"

"Aden?"

Aden looked at his sister who was staring at him dumbfounded. "Candace? What happened to your date?"

Ethan was looking at the sky. Candace was staring at the ground. The lightbulb flashed in Aden's head.

"Oh God, no. No no no no ..."

Ethan whistled.

"Shut up, Ethan. How did this happen?"

"Well," Candace offered," it was that time you had to do some overtime for this job which became overnight, so you asked Ethan to babysit me, which I didn't need, and I wanted him out."

Ethan was making gestures to keep her from talking.

"So we argued, then we began shouting at each other, and what do you know? We were in the living room, on the floor, hot, sweaty and naked."

"What? Ethan, I trusted you. I ask you to just watch over my little sister -"

"He was very guilty about it."

Ethan sighed and looked at Aden in the eye. "Look Aden, your sister is a wonderful girl, I like her and I won't hurt her."

Aden sighed. "Well, it's just that I'm shocked. Wow, if you get married, I get a brother." He shook his head self-depracatingly. "Go on and have a nice date then, and Ethan, you do funny business behind my sister's back, I go Rambo on you."

Ethan smiled," Dude, since when did I ever break girls' hearts?"

* * *

><p>Four months later<p>

"Aden, I'm pregnant," Candace said softly.

"What? I thought both of you were careful," Aden said gently.

"What am I going to do?" Candace asked, almost crying.

"Have you told him?"

"I did."

Aden waited a beat but Candace just shed a few tears quietly. She didn't tell him any of the hurtful things he said.

"It didn't go well, did it?" Aden asked gently.

"He proposed to me. Said we could work things out."

Aden hugged her. "I hope it does, Candy." And hugged her even harder.

* * *

><p>Five months later...<p>

Aden ran into Ethan. "Ethan, how is she?"

"She's fine, the baby isn't."

"How's she handling it?"

"Not so bad."

"You?"

"I'm glad she's fine, I'm sorry for the baby."

"So, what happens now?"

Ethan let out a shaky breathe. "Oh God, Aden. She doesn't want to see me."

Aden let out a weak smile. "It'll work out."

Ethan let out a bitter laugh. "It won't."

"It will," Aden insisted. It had to. He didn't want to see the two people he loved hurt and he knew there was something there, he just knew it. Silently, he damned the romantic novels Candace pushed on him.

Ethan just smiled at him sadly, it roiled in Aden's stomach to see how his bestfriend, usually so persistent, optimistic and stubborn, look so crushed and bitter. "I was hoping not to be the one to tell you this," Ethan said," We're divorcing."

"Did you try and talk to her?"

"You know her," he said, almost fondly in a sad way," Can be more stubborn than me."

"I'm sorry it has to be like this," Aden said regretfully.

"Yeah? I'm sorry too." Ethan walked away and left Aden.

* * *

><p>"So just that?" Aden asked Candace gently. Only God knew the effort he was keeping to not scream at her for being an idiot.<p>

"Just like that. Ethan just married because he was a nice guy, he doesn't want me. And I lost the baby, so what else is going to keep us together?" Candace asked, her head down. "We're too young."

"So what now?"

"I'm going back to my old life."

* * *

><p>"And that was that," Aden said to Gem," Months later, I've been having a bad time with my job. I got injured, I don't run like I used to. Then I get a letter from Ethan, who somehow knew I've been having a rough time, my sister could have helped, but I didn't want her to get hurt because of the family profession, so that was how I got here. Still, she got wind of it and wanted in, would have been no big deal, she dies, she comes back alive. But Ethan's here, so I keep it secret from both of them."<p>

Gem had long let go of him and suddenly she was restraining him again, except she didn't. She was hugging him. "It must have been hard on you."

"Must have been hard on you too, your parents are dead."

"You knew?"

"You still talk when you're under anesthesia," Aden said with a smile as he twirled her hair.

"Gem, we were wondering how long you've been -" Daniel cut himself when he saw Gem and Aden.

"Oh shoot, er, sorry -"

Gem and Aden looked at each other and laughed.

"It's good to see you, Aden."

"You too, Gem."


End file.
